


"Fanning the Flames"

by BlizzieNeko



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Family Loss, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Aleksandra "Zarya" Zaryanova/Mei-Ling Zhou, Implied Ana Amari/Rienhart Wilhelm, Implied BunnyRibbit - Freeform, Jamison Lucio and Hana being friends, Junkrat being Junkrat, Junkrat being cute, M/M, Mild Language, Original Characters - Freeform, Roadhog and Junkrat being bros, Self-Insert, Slow Burn, Swearing, Team Bonding, Violence, implied mchanzo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-10-15 00:37:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 67,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10547056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlizzieNeko/pseuds/BlizzieNeko
Summary: Ashlyn Elliot, a 25-year-old woman finds herself thrown in jail and accused of being a terrorist after trying to stop a violent riot in her hometown! After causing thousands of dollars in damage she caught the eye of two organizations; Talon and Overwatch! Trying to find herself in her new life, she finds herself in strange company with a tall, lanky, and downright filthy man. Will her life go up in smoke or will her new friend only fan the flames?(This is just a fanfiction I wrote to for fun in my free time. Wanted to write some sorta slow burn with an original character I created and everyone's favorite TrashRodent!)(There will be some adult language, adult themes, and eventual smut.)(What Ashlyn looks like!Link)





	1. "What have I gotten myself in to..."

Alone in his office, a large figure sits in front of a number of monitors that are all displaying a number of live news broadcasts from around the world. Nothing seems out of the ordinary to him until a woman's voices chimes in from one of the monitors closest to him.

  
"Just this morning, a young woman from a small town in West Virginia is in custody today after a violent anti-omnic rights protest. Twenty-five year old, Ashlyn Elliot,-" A woman's picture is displayed at the bottom of the screen. "is being accused of domestic terrorism after setting a fire that spread 2 and a half blocks on a local shopping district causing thousands of dollars in property damage. Witnesses reported the woman throwing what is described as 'Molotov cocktails' into a crowd of allegedly violent looters. Witnesses also describe her using a Vishkar model prosthetic arm modified into a makeshift flame thrower. Elliot claims self-defense and denies all claims of any terrorist activity. Sources say she will be transferred later tomorrow morning in federal custody for further questioning."

  
Adjusting his glasses he turned to another monitor. "Athena, can you send Morrison up to my office, please?"

A disembodied female voice responded. "Of course Winston. Is there an emergency?"

He shook his head. "No not really-" he paused for a moment turning his attention back to the previous monitor. "but he may be interested in this.."

  
"Sending for him now."

A short time later there was a knock and a man stepped through the doorway clearing his throat. "You needed something?"

  
Turning from his desk, Winston beckoned the man in. "Yes, Jack, I think I have something." He taps a few keys playing back the news report. "I think she may be worth looking into."

  
Jack leans in scratching his chin. "Oh yeah..?"

  
Winston nods. "If she can cause that much damage-"

  
Jack adjusts his posture to face Winston again crossing his arms. "Talon will be looking into her too. " he interrupted.

  
Winston nods again. "Exactly."

  
"Well, what's the plan?" Jack added gruffly.

  
"Get the rest of the team in the conference room. I'll be down shortly with a full report for a briefing. Athena, find her file for me, if you please."

"Right away."  
________________________________________

Laying on what could possibly be the most uncomfortable mattress on the planet, Ashlyn stared into the ceiling. Being arrested and accused of terrorism was two things she had never thought would happen to her in her life, let alone both in the same day. She rolled onto her side, using her weight to help prop herself back up. Swinging her legs off the edge of the cot she rubs the socket where her prosthetic used to be. _This is bullshit!_ she thought _I was only trying to help!_ Grumbling to herself she stood and walked to the cell door, calling out to a guard sitting at a small desk.

"Excuse me, don't I get a phone call?"

  
The guard scoffed without taking his eyes off of his tablet. "Terrorists don't get phone calls."

  
She scowled. "That's bullshit and you know it! I know my rights! I get a phone call!"

  
He laughed aloud mockingly.  "Not tonight you're not! I'm in charge of you tonight and I say you don't get a phone call, missy!" He adjusted himself in his chair resting his feet on his desk.

She huffed and kicked the metal bars. "It's not bad enough that you take my arm from me, but you can't even let me call my own mother!" She glared at him. "She's probably worried sick!"

  
He scoffed and looked over at her. "Doubt that, sweetheart. You're on national news. Your mommy probably has already seen your mug on tv." shaking his head, he gave a disapproving sound with his tongue. "Tsk Tsk. What a disappointment you must be."

Her eyes welled up with tears. Slowly turning back to look at the rest of her cell, she presses her back against the bars and sliding down to sit on the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on her arm in defeat. She sat in silence for a long while, staring out the small window of her cell at the night sky.  
_What have I got myself into?_


	2. "I must be dreaming!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To see what Ashlyn looks like go [HERE!](https://blizzekawaii-blog.tumblr.com/post/158943742329/this-is-ashlyn-elliot-she-is-the-character-im)  
> Okydoky! Definitely got some writing done this time around and I already have plans for the next chapter! It should be coming out by the end of the next week at the latest! Hopefully!  
> Wish me luck!  
> Hope you enjoy!  
> Don't forget to follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/BlizzieNeko) and [Tumblr](https://blizzekawaii-blog.tumblr.com) for artwork! (Mostly Meihem!)

She awoke to the sound of several guards speaking rather frantically to each other after what she thought sounded like gunshots. _When did I fall asleep?_

  
"He's already down three of our men! We've gotta call for backup!"

 

"No time! He's headed this way!"

  
She scrambles to her feet and presses up against the bars. "Sir! What's happening?"

  
A guard stops for a second as he's loading his gun to look at her. "Just stay here and stay quiet. We've got a situation. Just keep your head down and you should be fine."

  
He and the other guard move down a hallway toward the front entrance. She could hear more gunfire followed by a what sounded like screams. A large lump wells in her throat and her stomach drops. She backs slowly into a corner of her cell and pulling her knees to her chest.

  
_"What the hell is going on?"_ she whispers to herself when she realizes she was visibly shaking. What was worse, the entirety of the station fell quiet, but not for long. Soon the silence was broken by the sound of heavy footsteps closing in.  
A hooded figure stops in front of her cell. His face was covered by a skull mask and but she could feel his eyes burning right through her core. He raises a short barreled shotgun to the lock on the door with one blast obliterating the lock. Pieces of the door scatters across the room, and she covers her herself with her arm screaming. With one swift kick, he swings the door open hard enough to nearly knock it off of its hinges stepping through the threshold looming over her without breaking eye contact.

  
_This is it... I'm going to die. I'm going to die here in a holding cell. Killed by a man who thinks it's Halloween._

  
"O-okay if you're gonna do it, make it quick!" Her voice quivered. "Let's try for an o-o-pen casket, a-alright?" She closed her eyes tight hiding her face waiting for the inevitable, but it never came. Instead, the man let out a long, low, ominous laugh.

  
"I'm not here to _kill_ you."

  
She raises her head to look at him.

  
He shoulder's his weapon. "I've got a unique job opportunity for you."

  
Her brows furrow. "Job?" She frowns and nods in the direction of the screams. "Doing what you did out there?" She shakes her head as her face grimaces. "No fucking way, spooky. I'd rather die."

  
He growled under his breath and raised one gun up to her face. His knuckles popping and the leather of his gloves scrunch under his tightening grip. "It wasn't a request."

  
Before another word, the hooded man is yanked backward by what looked like a giant silver hook, but soon wisps out of its grasp like a cloud of black smoke. The hook snaps back into an equally giant hand bearing a leather glove and painted black nails. The man it was attached to was just as large and intimidating. His large belly was branded with a biker-themed tattoo of a pig and a motor that read 'Hog Power'. Bringing her eyes up to study his face, she finds her eyes meeting a pair of thick lenses of a gas mask in the shape of a pigs snout.

  
_Another guy wearing a mask? Awesome! This must be a nightmare._

  
The 'Hog' man fires his jerry-rigged gun at the wisp followed by more gunfire as equally strange people wielding weapons enter the room behind him. One man in a leather jacket with a large "76" on the back was firing and keeping in close pursuit of the wisp. A skinny woman with a short brown hair and goggles soon flashes into view. She pauses at the door waving and smiling sweetly.

  
"Hello, luv! Be back in flash!" She giggles to herself then does exactly as she said and darts away in a blink of blue.

  
_Men made of smoke and a female Flash. If I didn't know better I'd say I was drugged._

  
Following close behind was a lanky man with patchy singed hair, wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off camo shorts, a huge spiked tire on his back, sporting a bright orange prosthetic and a peg leg. Bearing a grin that spread ear to ear and eyes that could burn through steel he held up his weapon to take aim only to have a large furred hand laid atop it pointing it down. "Remember, Jamison, we don't want the building coming down on our heads." The lanky man frowned, nearly pouting as the rest of the other figure came in view. It was a... gorilla?

  
_A god-damned gorilla._

  
"No fair, mate! Whatcha bring me along for if ya ain't going to blow up the joint?!" He let his arms go limp at his sides pouting out his lip like a scolded child.

  
The gorilla gave him a stern look. "We want to prevent as many casualties as possible, not to mention trying to prevent any harm to who we're here for?"

  
Her eyes widen and she tries not to let her mouth go agape.

  
_A...talking gorilla. Yep! Definitely drugged!_

  
"If ya couldn't tell, _Winston_ , Creepy Reapy done blew away all the civvies!"

  
She feels her stomach flip. "Oh god.. they're dead? _All of them?_ " She covers her mouth and feels her eyes well up with tears. _That man killed all of them..._

  
Both of their heads turn toward her in surprise. "Oh, didn't see ya there, sheila. Just-uh.. forget ya heard that last part, eh?" He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a nervous chuckle.

  
"Oh, Ms. Elliot! Sorry about that I...uh..." The larger of the two adjusts his glasses and clears his throat before holding a hand up to his ear. His eyes darting around the room as if he was listening to something. "Alright, change of plans. Tracer says he's made a run for it but he's wounded. Mako's taken the far exit to get to the van, but Widow has the back exit covered. We've got a small window to get her out of here but we don't have an exit.." He turns to the Jamison again. "Junkrat. We need you to make a door."

  
He perks up and that face splitting grin returns to his face as he gives a half-hearted salute. "Dr. Boom, at your service!" He cackles and nearly skips down the hall.

  
The large figure turns to her. "Sorry for all the excitement, Ms. Elliot, but we've got to go."

  
He holds out his large hand, she takes it and he helps her to her feet.

  
"Um..Not that I'm not grateful for the breakout and saving me from that guy, but uh..." she motions at the void where her other limb should be.

  
His eyes furrow and then follows her motions. "OH! Of course! Your arm." He chuckles. "Sorry about that too." He brings a finger up to his ear again. "Jamison is making us an exit. Tracer, did you find, Ms. Elliots's prosthesis in evidence?" He gives a nod in hearing an answer. "Thank you. We're ready to move now-" He beckons her to follow. "We're headed towards the interrogation rooms. Jamison should have-"

  
**_BOOM!_ **

  
A large explosion shakes the floor beneath their feet and dust and some tiles from the ceiling fell around them followed by a laugh echoing down the hallways.

  
"Time to go! Head to the van!"

  
She and the Gorilla run toward the bellowing laughter until they find the lanky man standing, his hands on his hips, admiring his work. He turns to the two of them as the other man and the cheerful woman catch up behind them.

  
"Got it, Winston!"

  
The woman taps Ashlyn on her shoulder and puts her prosthetic and a small plastic bag in her hand as she turns to face her. "There ya go, luv! Now we've got all of ya. Got the rest of your things too!"

  
"Thank you."

  
"No problem!" she grips her shoulder reassuringly as she passes, daring toward the van as it came to an abrupt halt in front of the new opening in the wall. She opens the van door jumping in. Soon after the man in the leather jacket and visor runs out to join her.

  
Jamison frowns and crossing his arms. " _Thanks, Junkrat. Nice job, Junkrat._ " He scoffs and dramatically drapes his hand over his forehead. "I'm _so_ unappreciated."

  
Winston rolls his eyes. "Let's move before they find us."

  
"Fine, fine. You're the boss!" He jogs forward, rolling into the van. He pokes his head out and takes a quick look around before beckoning them in. "Still clear!"

  
Winston gives her a light push as the two of them dart for the van. She climbs in, losing her balance and falling on top of Junkrat. She sits up eyes wide and her face flushing pink.

  
"Uh, my bad." She mutters as she struggles to sit back up with her only arm full of her belongings.

  
"Look at that, Hog, barely even met and she's fallin' for me." He lets out a fit of laughter as Tracer helps her back up and into her seat.  
A large hand reaches back smacking him on the top of the head and Junkrat hissing in pain.

"Rat... Shut. Up."

  
Junkrat's face scrunches up as he pokes out his tongue at the larger man. "It's a joke, mate! Don't gotta get physical, ya bastard!" Crossing his arms and leaning back against the driver's seat he looks over at Ashlyn with a sly smile on his face. "Unless _you_ want to get physical, darl!" He wiggles his eyebrows and chuckles to himself.

  
Ashlyn's feels her face heat up and purses her lips trying to find anywhere else to look while the rest of the group grumble in annoyance.

  
_Did he just fucking hit on me?! What a fucking day..._

  
The large man lets out an exacerbated sigh. _"Oh my fucking God..."_

  
"Charming." Tracer hisses under her breath. "No wonder you can't get a date, ya bloody perv!"

  
Junkrat giggles to himself before another swift blow comes to the top of his head. By the man in the visor this time.

  
"Shut your yap." He grumbles as Junkrat poking his tongue out at him as well.

  
Winston climbs in and shuts the door behind him. "Alright, lets hit the road!"

  
Mako gives brisk thumbs up before the tires squealed as the van rips out of the parking lot.


	3. "Introductions are in order."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashlyn gets introductions from her saviors and gets has some light shed on her situation. 
> 
> Lots of conversation in this one but there are more interactions between Ashlyn and Junkrat... and that's why you all are here!  
> Hope you enjoy!  
> Don't forget to follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/BlizzieNeko) and [Tumblr](https://blizzekawaii-blog.tumblr.com) for artwork!  
> To see what Ashlyn looks like go [HERE!](https://blizzekawaii-blog.tumblr.com/post/158943742329/this-is-ashlyn-elliot-she-is-the-character-im)  
> 

"So..." She begins as she is reattaching her prosthetic arm. "Not so sound ungrateful or anything, I mean... I'm glad to be out of there and away that whole shit show-" As the arm and socket come in contact it hisses and locks into place. She wiggles her fingers to test the if the nerve receptors are working properly. "but who the fuck are you people? Also, who the hell was that in the Halloween costume?"

  
"First off," Winston shuffles to turn to her with a smile. "My name is Winston, Ms. Elliot. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." extending a hand to shake for her to shake.

  
She raises a smile and takes his hand. "Pleasure's all mine, but my name is Ashlyn or Ash for short. You don't have to keep calling me 'miss'. Makes me sound like a school teacher."

  
Winston smirks. "Oh! Haha! Sorry about that, Ashlyn."

  
Tracer smiles and follows suit. "Nice to meet ya, Ashlyn! My names Lena Oxton, but can just call me, Tracer, if you'd like! Everyone does." She giggles and also shakes Ashlyn's hand.  
"Alright then, nice to meet you Tracer!" Smiling back at her.

  
_Her cheerful nature is infectious, haha!_

  
Junkrat's eyes widen and he bursts out into laughter. "HA! I get it! _Ash!_ " Holding his stomach he falls to his side laughing. "Perfect name for a firebug like you, eh?!"

  
Tracer whips around to shoot him a glare putting her hands on her hips. "That's rude! Don't make fun of her name, Junkrat!"

  
At first, she gave him a steely look, but after a moment it sinks in and chuckles. "No, no... he's right. I was not thinking about that when I modded my arm and I'm surprised I didn't notice sooner. Fucking ironic!" She laughs along with him.

  
He sits up trying to catch his breath. "Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry.." wiping a tear from his eye. "Didn't mean to pick fun at'cha name. Just.. it was too funny not to point out!" He falls into another fit of giggles.

  
She shakes her stifling another laugh. "So, _Junkrat?_ That's your name?"

  
He nods. "Yeah, what of it?" He narrows his eyes.

  
"Nothin' man, but that can't be a _real_ name." She smirked.

  
He rolls his eyes. "No, of course not. My real name is Jamison if you must know, but I prefer, Junkrat, if ya don't mind."

  
She raises her hands defensively and chuckles. "Fair enough, Junkrat it is then."

  
Tracer smiles and points up towards the man in the leather jacket. "That there is Jack Morrison! Say hello, Jack!"

  
"You will address me as 'Sir', 'Soldier', '76', or 'Soldier 76'."He barked with a firm tone.

  
Her lips purse and her brows raise. "Okay, Sir. Nice to meet you... _I guess_..." She looked over at Tracer shrugging.

  
She leaned in close to Ashlyn's ear. " _Don't mind him, he's always like that. Give'em time, luv. He'll warm up to ya._ "

  
"Ahem." Winston adjusts his glasses. "Jamison has neglected to introduce his colleague, Mr. Rutledge, also known as Road Hog." Roadhog half-heartily raises his hand from the wheel as if to greet her.

  
" _Woops, sorry mate._ " Junkrat hisses under his breath and braces for a possible wallop.

  
She thinly smiled and waved cautiously back at the large man in the rearview mirror. "Nice meeting all of you...but um...you never did tell me why you were saving me in the first place..."  
Winston straightens his posture and gives her a beaming smile. "Ashlyn, we are Overwatch! We work together to fight for the greater good of all human and omnic alike!"

  
Junkrat stifles a laugh. "Sounds so _corny_ when you say it like that."

  
Winston shoots him a glare. " _Ahem!_ As I was saying-" Smiling at her once again he continues. "We've seen your potential and think your skills can be to a good use! With the right training, you can be a real asset and comrade to our cause!" He puffs out his chest confidently.

  
She sits back in crosses her arms as she ponders. _"A-lrighty then..._ " Her brows furrow. "That skull mask guy said something similar. She brings her hands up making quotation gesture. "A unique job opportunity. I refused of course, but then he held a gun to my head then says It wasn't a request grrrr" she mocked.

  
"That man is known as, Reaper." Winston frowns.

  
_"Edgy."_ she scoffs.

  
"He is part of a terrorist group called, Talon, a terrorist organization who are hell bent on watching the world burn. Reaper was sent to retrieve you so that you could be added to their ranks."

  
Her brows furrow into a quizzical expression. "How do they plan on doing that if I don't want to. It's not like they can make me."

  
Tracer gives her a sullen look. " _Yes_ , they can..."

  
Jack grips the armrests tightly, a small grumble escapes his lips. "They indoctrinate you. They poison your mind turning you into someone you're not... and as far as we can tell... there's no reversing it..."

The tone of his voice sends a chill up Ashlyn's spine. Ashlyn gave him a quizzical look. "So... they wanted to kidnap and brainwash me to make me hurt or kill people?" she shakes her head. "My tech is not that impressive! What I did was an accident. I miscalculated how potent my fuel was and it got way out of hand."

  
Winston sighs and shakes his head. "That may be so, but just think of the damage you could have caused had that been your intention..."

  
Tracer squeezes Ashlyn's hand. "That's why we had to get to you first. We know you can be something great." She gives her a sweet smile. "We won't let those Talon baddies take ya away."

  
"So." Winston readjusts his glasses and gives her a firm look. "What do you say, Ashlyn? Will you join Overwatch?"

  
Junkrat folds his arms behind his head and grins. "Not too bad of a gig. Beats headin' to jail, I'll tell ya that! Right, Roadie?"

  
Roadhog grunts in approval.

  
He shoots her an ear-splitting grin. "You get to be a hero, Firebug!"

  
Scratching her head she ponders for a moment. "You've got a valid point there." She smiles. "Sure, why the fuck not?"

  
Tracer throws herself onto Ashlyn, bringing her into a tight hug! "Yay! Ya hear that, big guy!?"

  
Returning her affection with soft pats on her arm wearing a tight smile she looks back over to Winston. "Glad to hear it, Ash!"

  
"Welcome aboard, soldier." Soldier turns and gives her a nod.

  
Tracer releases her grip as the van comes to a stop. "Here already?" Tracer jumps out of her seat and looks around the parking lot.

  
Ashlyn raises a brow and sits up to join Tracer. "Is this... my apartment building?"

  
"Sure is!" Tracer opens the van door having already scanned the lot for potential onlookers. "Gotta go get'cha packed!"

  
Ashlyn steps out of the van closing the door behind her but hears a window roll down and Soldier leans out slightly. "Make it fast and bring only the essentials."

  
Ashlyn gives a two finger salute before leading Tracer to her apartment.

  
\-------------------------

  
Once inside Ashlyn retrieves two duffle bags from her corner closet in her tiny studio apartment. Tracer looks around rocking on her heels before dashing over to the bed taking a seat on the corner rocking side to side happily. "Need any help, luv?"

  
"Nah... don't have much so it shouldn't take long.." she empties the drawers of her small dresser into one bag, soon filling it. She rubs her chin looking around her small desk. "Is it alright if I bring my own tools? They're the ones I use for my arm repair."

  
"Absolutely!" she nods as she studies the room. Finding a picture frame on her side table, she takes it to examine it more closely. In the photo is a younger Ashton surrounded by three girls all embraced in a hug. Tracer smiles. "Are these girls your friends?"

  
Ash shakes her head. "No, those are my little sisters! I'm the oldest." She winds a power cord and places it in her bag. "Two of them have moved out of state, but I still the youngest sill lives close by..."

  
"That's lovely! You should take these pictures with ya!" Tracer holds out the photo to Ashlyn.

  
Ash turns to her beaming. "Oh! Can I!?" She takes the photo holding it close to her chest.

  
"Take all of'em! You get your own room back at base. You can hang up all over!" She giggled rocking side to side again. "You can even keep in contact and visit when we get shore time! I try to visit my special lady every chance I get! Lots of us have lives outside of Overwatch."

  
Ashlyn lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I haven't talked to them in days and I'm sure they already think I'm dead or headed to maximum prison by now with that they put on the news!" She collects the rest of her family photos and places them carefully between articles of clothing so they don't break. "Just about done here...I'll have to call my sister and have her come pick up the rest of my things... and cancel my lease somehow..."

  
"Oh don't worry about that, we've got that part covered. You can contact your family as soon as your settled. Gotta get'cha in your room and meet the rest of the team and we gotta give you a tour of the whole base!" She stood picking up the duffle bag that was already full.

  
Ashlyn shoulders the other bag. "All packed...my sis has the spare key and the code for the door. We'll just lock up on the way out."

  
"Alright! Let's head back to the van. We've still gotta get back to the dropship." She darts for the door.

  
"Oh, where is this base anyway?"

  
"Gibraltar!"

  
"Wait..." she stops. "You mean in Europe?"

  
"Yep!" Tracer skips down the stairs.

  
"Wow..." she follows close behind as the make it back to the van. "I've never even been out of the country! This is exciting!" Tracer laughs and opens the door putting her the bag she carried inside then steps in. She helps Ash with her other bag, which was heavier because of her equipment. It thudded against the van floor.

  
Junkrat pokes at the bag with his peg leg. "What'cha got in there, rocks?"

  
"Maybe, what's it to you?" she teased.

  
He scrunches his face. "Smart arse."

  
Climbing in and shutting the door behind her she takes her seat. "I'd rather be a smart ass than a dumb ass."

  
He grins. "She's got a mouth on her, Roadie."

  
Roadhog lets out a laugh that sounded more like a wheeze. "If she's the smart ass then you're the dumb ass."

  
Junkrat twists around to face him glaring into the back of his head as he starts the engine to the van. "That ain't funny."

  
Backing the van out onto the main road he lets a few more chuckles slip through his mask. "Yeah, it is."

  
Junkrat slumps back into his seat folding his arms over his chest. His face scrunches up when he hears Ash laugh under her breath trying to disguise it as a cough. Soldier sighs as he lets his head fall into his hand.

  
A short while later they reach an open field and the van came to a stop. One by one they filed out of the van with Ashlyn coming in last. She shoulders her bag full of clothes and reaches to pick up her other bag, but it's quickly snatched up by Junkrat. She turns quickly in surprise. "Oh, you don't have to do that."

  
He shrugs shouldering his weapon in the other hand. "I know." He looks down at her grinning as he shoots her a wink.

  
Her eyes narrow. "Are you hitting on me or do you have some kind of tic?"

  
He cackled and turned to join the others soon catching up to walk alongside Roadhog. Shaking her head she soon followed, but noticed they were walking towards... nothing... there was nothing there.

  
"So... is the dropship gonna come pick us up or what?"

  
Winston laughs. "No, it's cloaked. Athena, we're ready to board."

  
The ship then flickers into existence roughly smaller in than a commercial airliner, but it was wider. It hovers just above the ground and soon the hatch hisses and slowly opens providing a ramp. Tracer and Soldier enter first with the rest in close behind. The interior alone was phenomenal and spacious. There was a booth style table on the far wall along with a coffee pot and a few bottles of alcohol. A row of seats with overhead harnesses parallel to each other lined the opposite wall along with a shelf in the wall that was filled to the brim of supplies and parachutes if needed. It even has a basketball hoop and balls.

She scans the rest of the room, letting out a low whistle. "Wow... that's impressive."

  
Soldier and Tracer had already made it up to the cockpit, strapped in doing all the system checks before Tracer voice came on over a speaker overhead. "Please take your seats. We're going to shovin' off soon!"

  
Roadhog and Junkrat were laying down their equipment and Ashlyn's bag on the floor next to the basketball hoop. She makes her way over to add her second bag to the pile and headed to one of the seats. After strapping herself in she bounces her knee while waiting for take-off she doesn't even hear Junkrat and Roadhog take their own seats next to her.

  
"You nervous?"

  
Ash jumps at the sound of his voice, nearly out of her own skin. Turning she finds Junkrat next to her cackling loudly. "Hooley Dooley, you're jumpy! Is it your first time flyin'?"

  
She nods frantically. "Um.. yes... yes it is..."

  
Poking his elbow into her side and snickers. "Take-offs and landings can be a bitch, but once you're up in the air it's aces. You'll be fine.. just... don't yak...." he shudders and his face grimaces. "If you're gonna yak aim it away from me!"

  
Ashlyn covers her mouth trying to hide her chuckle. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who's terrified of vomit!"

  
"Oi! I ain't afraid of nothin'! Just don't want yaked on!" He huffed and stuck his tongue out at her.

  
Still giggling to herself she snorts as she tries to cover her mouth again. "Whatever you say! Besides... I don't get motion sickness, so you're in the clear."

  
His eyes narrow. "Hmm...Alright... if you say so...but I'm watching you!" He motions a 'V' with his fingers from his eyes to hers. "Any sheila who snorts like that when they laugh are always up to no good and can't be trusted."  
Roadhog chortles under his mask.

  
She throws him a look of astonishment and gasps dramatically. "I do not snort!" She pokes her tongue back at him.

  
"Do too! Just heard ya! So did, Roadie!"

  
Winston shakes his head raising his voice over Junkrat's. "Come now children, don't make me separate you two..." he teased.

  
She tries to hold in a laugh as Junkrat makes a goofy face at Winston while his back is turned but then stiffened up as the ship begins to shake. She grips onto the restraints and chews on the inside of her lip.

  
"Scaredy cat." Junkrat hisses at her, but she jabs a firm elbow into his ribs making him yelp in pain. Soon the whole of the ship stops comes to a calm when they reach enough altitude.

  
_Finally._ she sighed.

  
_I made it._

  
Soldier stands up out his seat and takes the stairs to the lower floor. "Alright, you all can move around freely now. We're looking at twelve hours of air time, so I'd catch a few winks if I were you." He nods to Ashlyn. "Taken a nap on that couch over there a few times. It's not as good as a bed, but it's comfy."  
She stands out and walks toward the couch sitting back down. She curls up in the bend of the 'L' shaped couch resting her head on her flesh arm. She wants to stretch out, but she doesn't want to take up sitting room for the rest. The time between blinks became longer and longer watching Roadhog and Junkrat have a conversation. One sided and loud as it may be, she could feel her lids getting heavier by the second. She focused on the hum of the engine and her eyes shut one last time before it lulled her to sleep.


	4. "Don't make me hurt you..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashlyn meets some of the Overwatch heroes! More interactions with Trash boi!
> 
> (Ashlyn's pajamas [Link](https://blizzekawaii-blog.tumblr.com/post/159817028814/ashlyns-outfit-she-wears-in-the-newest-chapter-of))

Ashlyn's eyes flutter open when a hand rests on her shoulder giving her a gentle nudge.

  
"Psst! Wakey wakey, firebug."

  
She raises her head sluggishly and she sees the lanky junker leaning on the wall closest to her.

  
"Mm... what is it?" She mutters rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

  
"Tracer says we're landin' soon and told me to wake ya up..." He walks over to his seat beckoning her. "Come on, scaredy cat! Don't keep'er waitin'."

  
Grumbling she peels herself from the comforts of the couch then walked to her seat. Lowering the harness down she strapped herself in. She rests her head against the bars letting her eyes close again. Considering that she was half asleep landing was easier. Just as she could feel herself nodding off again Tracer's voice comes over the speakers once more causing her to jolt awake with a 'yelp', making Junkrat chuckle in amusement.

  
"Welcome home, luvs! Remember to take your things!"

  
While lowering for touchdown the loud hum of the engine dies down with a diminuendo. Soon the ship quiets and all passengers are given the okay to move about the haul to gather their equipment.

  
A lovely disembodied woman's voice chimes in. "Welcome back, heroes. Should I alert the others of your arrival?"

  
Winston nods. "Yes, please. Let the know we'll be in the briefing room."

  
"Of course."

  
He turns to Ashlyn. "We're going ahead, but Tracer can help you with your bags. We'll be able to get you a room afterward."

  
He pats her shoulder and gives her a smile before passing her to exit. The other three men soon exit behind him leaving only she and Tracer. Ashlyn takes one of her bags and Tracer helped her with the other. Once outside, Ashlyn takes a moment to look at her surroundings. Her eyes widen when seeing the base for the first time. She pauses to look behind her.

  
"Do I hear... the ocean?"  
Tracer smiles. "You sure do love! Just over there!" she points behind the ship. "You can get a marvelous view from here and on the other side of the base! It's lovely!"

  
She grins and laces her arm with Ashlyn's as they start towards where Winston and the other's had disappeared from view.

  
Tracer shrugs. "A lot of the other's are off on other missions right now, so it's going to be a relatively small group greetin' ya today."

  
Ashlyn nods. "Well, I'll meet them all eventually I suppose... no rush." She laughs. " I don't think I can handle all of that in one day."

  
Tracer returns a giggle leading her up a flight of stairs. "That's fair... so..." she pauses before reaching the top. "You ready?"  
Ashlyn nods again with a sigh. "As I'll ever be."

  
Entering the room there was the group she was already familiar with; Soldier, Winston, Junkrat, and Roadhog. While scanning the room there are a few different faces. A tall woman built like a fortress with bubblegum pink hair smiles and nods to her while leaning against the back wall. Standing next to her, a petite woman in a messy bun with an elegant pin in her hair smiling as she waves shyly. At a small round table four others; A calm, collected man sits with his hands neatly folded on top of the table nods to her presence. Close beside was a man who could have been snatched from a set from a western. Cowboy hat and all. He tips his hat to her whispering a _"Howdy"_.

  
_Good lord. He's going to be a trip and a half._

  
Two others who were chattering to one another hadn't noticed them yet. The young woman nudges the young man with whispering to him as they both look at her. The man waved with a beaming smile on his face and the woman soon waving as well. Behind them, a stunningly beautiful woman with platinum blonde waves to her with an angelic smile.

  
"You guys were quick!" Tracer laughs.

  
"Most of us anticipated where you would ask us to meet here so we were all close by..." The petite woman laughed sheepishly.

  
The pink haired woman smiles and crosses the room. She wraps her large arm around her bringing her into a tight embrace laughing. "Da! We were eager to see the fresh meat!"

  
Ashlyn laughs nervously along with her while giving Winston a look.  
Winston clears his throat. "Now, now! Let's settle down for a moment. She's only just got here." He beckons Ashlyn over to her in front of the blackboard.

  
The woman's arm releases her from her vice grip and Ashlyn joining Winston. She stands wringing her hands anxiously. Having all eyes on here was never her favorite past time. It felt like being in school again when she had to give a presentation or when it was her turn to read aloud.

  
"Now, all of you were briefed before we left for the states early yesterday morning. A lot of us aren't all here and are on missions, unfortunately, but you can go ahead and introduce yourself!" He gives the floor to Ashlyn.

  
She swallowed hard and clears her throat. "Um.. hello... I'm Ashlyn Elliot. You all can call me, Ash, if you like... um... I'm twenty-five... I dabble in some basic engineering and mechanics, mostly self-taught... and just recently I've dabbled into some pyrotechnics... we all saw how that went." she chuckled. "I was formally under a tattoo apprenticeship and built my own tattoo guns and modded guns for other artists... and um... I think that's...that's it." she rocked on her heels wringing her hands again as she gave the room a tight smile as everyone said their small _'hellos'_ and _'nice to meet yous'_.

  
Winston smiles. "Now, starting from the left..." he points towards the calm man at the table. "This is Hanzo Shimada. He is an expert in stealth and archery. Beside him is Jesse McCree, he's been with us for a long time now and he is one hell of a shot."

  
He turns to the younger two. "This is Lúcio Correia dos Santos, he is one of our medics. The young lady next to him is Hana Song, she is our very own mecha pilot!" He laughs. "You probably have seen the two of them before, we have our very own celebrities!"

  
Ashlyn tilts her head and smiles as her memory catches up with her. "I do recognize them. Love your movies, and love your music!"

  
Smiling they both thanked her. "You're too kind!" Lucio chimed.

  
He now turns to the pink haired woman who had hugged her. "This is Aleksandra Zaryanova, she is a force to be reckoned with when she has her particle canon!"

  
She scoffs. "I am a force to be reckoned with on and off the battlefield!"

  
"Very true, Zarya." Winston laughs.

  
Ashlyn smiles nervously. She could tell that the woman was confident in her abilities and had no ideas testing her claims.

  
"Beside 76 is our talented Dr. Angela Ziegler. She is our physician who works here on base and out in the field with us."

  
She smiles and waves politely. "Nice to meet you. Tomorrow morning I ask you to join me in my clinic for a mandatory physical. All new recruits must do so."  
"Of course!" Ashlyn nods.

  
"And finally, we have our climatologist and scientist, Mei-Ling Zhou." Winston smiled, motioning to her.

  
Giving her a smile that would only match Tracer's in sincerity she bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you, Ashlyn. I hope you'll like it here!"

  
Shrugging Ashlyn sighed. "It will definitely need some getting use to, but I'm sure I'll love it here. There's a beautiful view of the ocean so it already has its perks!" Returning a smile to the group. "I'm really happy to meet all of you. I can't express how grateful I am for you all helping me and taking me in...I just hope I won't let you all down."

  
Tracer hugs her. "You'll do just fine!"

  
Soldier approaches. "It will be a few months before you're ready for the field, so you'll be training with me and Captain Ana Amari. We gotta teach you to use a firearm and get you in shape and find your strengths and weaknesses before we send you on any missions. If you need repairs to your prosthetic arm or other equipment that you can't do yourself, refer to Torbjörn Lindholm, our lead engineer. Amari and Lindholm are currently in the field, but we'll make sure you get acquainted when they return." He turns to Winston. "For now, we need to get her a bunk and get some food in her. I'll leave that up to you." He pats Ashlyn on the shoulder and walks to the door. "I'm headed to my own quarters for a while. You know how to reach me."

  
Winston nods and adjusts his glasses."Agreed. Athena, did you find an available room for Ashlyn?"

  
"Yes. There is an available room in hall 'b' room '12'."

  
A few in the room looked at each other and the Hana stifles a laugh. Ashlyn looked at Winston with a curious expression.

  
"What's wrong with that room?"

  
Junkrat chuckles. "They're just worried because that rooms right across from the room of yours truly." He points to himself with his thumb. "Apparently I'm not the best neighbor."

  
"Yeah, when I had room 12 he kept me up all night with his tinkering and occasional explosions. The only one who stays in that part of the hall anymore is Roadhog." Hana cracks her gum and grins. "Lucky you, newbie!"

  
Junkrat scowls. "I ain't that bad! B'sides! I ain't allowed to work in me room anymore 'cause of you! So I'd say she's got nothin' to worry about!" He crosses his arms abruptly and huffs.

  
Ashton shrugs. "I'm a heavy sleeper anyway. I can sleep just about anywhere. I'm grateful enough to get my own room, doesn't matter where it is or who my neighbors are." She smiles at Junkrat. "You can't be any worse than the couple who lived above me. The screamed and argued every other night."

  
"Aw, ya see!" He shoots a grin at Hana. "She's alright with it, so ha!"

  
Winston checks the clock. "Well, we've got about 2 hours before dinner. I'm sure she'd like to go unpack and soak in of this. Your room has it's own lavatory, including a shower so you're welcome to that."

  
She lets out a blissful sigh. "A shower sounds amazing right now."

  
"Then let's get you to your room then. Junkrat, do you think you could show her to her room? I need Tracer to come with me for debriefing. The rest of you are free to go. See you all at dinner." With that, Tracer and Winston leave the room together.

  
McCree and Hanzo leave together. McCree tipping his hat and Hanzo bowing politely giving their goodbyes. Lucio and Hana soon follow, waving as they exit. As Mei and Zarya head towards the door, Mei walks up to her giving Junkrat a look she couldn't quite pinpoint.

  
She leans shaking her hand whispering. "Are you sure you wouldn't like someone to go with you to your room? We can try to get you switched with someone else."

  
Ashlyn shakes her head. "Oh, no need for that." She smiles. "I'm a big girl. I can handle myself."

  
Mei frowns. "Are you quite certain?"

  
Ash Smiles to her reassuringly. "I'll be fine." She leans in to whisper back. "Thanks for your concern, but he dosesn't scare me."

  
She turns to see Junkrat holding one of her bags and Roadhog carrying another, passing her to the door.

  
"Common, firebug!" Junkrat beckons. "Time to getcha to your room."

  
\----

  
The three make their way through a huge hanger. Equipment and parts neatly piled and covered in blue tarps or in boxes branded with the Overwatch logo she had seen on the drop ship. The smell oil and metal brings a smile to her face.

  
"Whatcha smiling about?" Junkrat asks nudging her.

  
"Oh.. nothing... just smells good."

  
He raises a brow. "You think it smells good in here?" He chuckles and shakes his head in disbelief. "You're an odd one, sheila. Not many gals prefer the smell of petrol."

  
Ashlyn only shrugged. "Well, I guess it's not something I'd buy as a perfume... but it's a familiar smell that brings me back to some good memories is all."

  
"Almost there..." Roadhog grumbles taking a left.

  
After taking two flights of stairs the three enter a large communal area. There was a large couch and television complete with every gaming system you could think of. The couch was currently occupied by Lucio and Hana both with gaming controllers in hand. They were playing some kind of first person shooter, but she couldn't figure out which.

  
"Hey there, newbie! Care to take me one on one!?" Hana grinning confidently.

  
Smiling Ashlyn shakes her head as they pass the two of them by. "Tempting, but there's a shower with my name on it. Not that I wouldn't mind playing another time. I love video games."

  
"Rain-check then." Hana shrugs before taking the winning shot. She pumps her fists into the air exclaiming while Lucio drops his head in shame.

  
The three continue down a hallway before Hog stops in front of a door.

  
"Here it is." Hog sets the bag down in front of the door then turns to take his leave. "Athena will tell you how to get in. See ya later." He walks toward his own room.  
Ashlyn waves and picks up her bag. "Thank you."

  
He waves back halfheartedly before leaving from sight, the door sliding shut behind him.

  
"So!" Junkrat starts. "Oi, Athena. Open the door, will ya?"

  
"Of course, Mr. Fawkes. Ashlyn, tomorrow you'll get your own code and will be able to open the door directly with palm recognition once you're registered with Dr. Ziegler. For now, all you have to do is ask." The door slides open. "If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. For now, have a good evening, Ashlyn."

  
"Thanks, Athena." She walks into her room setting down her bag on the floor, Junkrat following close behind.

  
"Nice ain't it?" He sits the bag he was carrying beside hers. "Ya got'cher own closet over there and a desk.."He points a set of mirrors, they would open to a closet no doubt, then points to a small desk and chair in the far corner. "And the beds here are real comfy. Adjustable too!" He hobbles over to the bed grabbing a small remote from the side table. "This little thing-a-ma-jig will make it as soft or hard as you want! Pretty neat, huh?" He grins sitting on her bed patting the spot next to him.

  
She sighs and sits next to him looking at a door along the back wall. "So, the shower's in there?" she asks.

  
"Yep, ya guessed right." He smiles still fiddling with the remote.

  
She looks over the filthy man, taking a finger and rubbing it across his shoulder leaving a streak of bare flesh exposed underneath the soot and grime. She laughs then gives him a sarcastic smile. "I take it you still haven't found _your_ shower yet."

  
He pauses for a moment before glaring over at her, putting down the remote and pointing at her. "Oi, I don't bathe because it makes great camouflage!" He pokes out his lip before crossing his arms.

  
Giggling she stands. "I'm just picking on you. No need to get defensive."

  
" _Whatever..._ " He grumbles under his breath as he stands alongside her.

  
"Thank you again for helping me with my bags, but-" she motions to the door. "I'd like to get my shower now if you don't mind."

  
He looks to the door but gives her a sly grin before leaning down to her eye level. "Aw, ya don't want me to stay and scrub your back?" One of his bushy brows raises comedically.

  
Her face flushes pushing him towards the door. "Go scrub your own back!"

  
He cackles as he is pushed through the door way to his own room. He leans against the wall putting his hands in his pockets. "Aw, you're no fun!"

  
She pokes out her tongue. "That's right!" She puts her hands on her hips and huffs. "Athena, please shut the door."

  
"Certainly, Ashlyn. Behave, Mr. Fawkes."

  
He gasps dramatically holding his chest. "Me?! Misbehave!?" He makes a goofy face at Ashlyn before her door shuts.

  
She giggles and shakes her head. _"What a goof."_ She empties her bag of clothes onto her bed. Neatly hanging her clothes in the closet and putting away other unmentionables in the small dresser inside. She sets up the photos of her family on her desk and side table, making a small pile of photos that would need to be hung for later. Digging into the bottom of her bag, she pulls out a gray Pachimari plush. It had a grumpy face, tiny fangs, and was wearing a black cape. Her limited edition, Dracula Pachi. She hugs it and it lets out a little squeak. Placing it on the bed she pats it on the head before walking into her bathroom.

  
A walk in shower, a small sink, and a toilet. The tile was in a sleek black and all the appliances were in clean chrome. Stripping down, she steps into the shower. It takes a few moments for her to get the hang of the dials but soon she has it to a perfect temperature. Humming happily, the hot water melts away all of her stress. She searches for a short time, finding small bottles of body wash and shampoo. Soaking her hair, she scrubs in a handful of shampoo. Humming her favorite song all the while. It was like heaven.  
Before she knew it an hour had gone by. Stepping out of the shower, her hands pruney. Toweling off as she walks out to her bedroom. Dressing in a Pachimari shirt with the sleeves cut off, sweat pants, and flip flops. She lays back on her bed taking the remote Junkrat had shown her before, adjusting until she found a firmness she was happy with. Curling up into a ball, she stares at the photos of her family.

  
I wonder how they're doing? I hope I call them soon.

  
Soon she is pulled from her thoughts as she hears metallic knocking at her door.

  
"Who is it?"

  
"It's me again." Junkrat's voice muffled through the door.

  
Sighing she sits up, hanging her legs off of the bed. "Go ahead and open the door, Athena..."

  
The door slides open revealing Junkrat holding up his fist for another knock, but he beams while he leans against the door frame."Hey, there! Tracer told me to come getcha for dinner. Ya hungry?"

  
She holds her stomach. "Oh yeah. I'm starved."

  
While standing she grabs her hair-tie off of her nightstand and slips it onto her wrist as she makes her way to the door. Junkrat turns taking the lead as the door shuts behind them. He puts his hands in his pockets as they walk side by side watching her comb her fingers through hair up into a messy ponytail.

  
Ashlyn looks around for Roadhog. "Where's your friend, isn't he coming?"

  
Junkrat shrugged. "Nah, he's already there I bet. Likes to be first in line."

  
She grins. "Food that good, huh?"

  
"Hell yeah! Finger lickin' good. Better than anything I've had back home." He pats his stomach smiling widely.

  
"Australia right? Always wanted to go..."

  
He frowns suddenly. "No, ya don't."

  
She pulls her lips tight together looking away from him. She could tell that it was a topic he wasn't willing to talk about so he didn't pry. She had heard stories of the outback and by his physique, she could guess where he was from. She looks down at the floor as they walked soon looking at his peg leg as it comes down with a 'thunk' with every step.

  
"So... why the peg leg?" She asked bluntly.

  
He turns to her as his eyes furrow. "What kind of fucking question is that?"

  
She brings her hand up defensively."Oh no! I didn't mean anything bad by that... just... curious why you chose a peg leg."

  
He shrugs and audibly sucks on his gold tooth. "Didn't really have a choice."

  
She rubs her shoulder looking around the hall trying to make the situation she had put herself in less awkward. "Sorry about being blunt... and I didn't mean to offend you or anything... Just thought it was cool is all..."

  
He smiled and lets out a soft chuckle as they take a turn, passing a sign reading 'Cafeteria'. "It's alright." He turns to her. "You think it's cool?"

  
She blushes. "Yeah. Did you make it?"

  
He puffs out his chest. "You bet your ass I did!"

  
Her eyes lit up. "No way! You make your arm too?"

  
The pride in his smile was obvious as he holds it out to her to inspect. "Too right!"

  
Ashlyn grabs it and looks it over, poking and prodding in spots taking in what she could as they walk. "I have so many questions, it's not even funny! You're going to have to show me how you did this. It's amazing."

  
Junkrat could feel his ears get hot and he cleared his throat as he pulled his arm back gently. Putting his hand back in his pocket. "S..sure thing."

  
The two enter a large room. Long lunchroom style tables with round seats line the walls with a buffet area closest to a room labeled 'kitchen'. The people she had met earlier sat at tables nearby or were at the buffet along with other men and women in uniform. As Junkrat had said before, Roadhog is sitting by himself with his own tray of food, occasionally pulling his mask away to allow a hand to move underneath of it to feed himself. Dr. Ziegler sees Ashlyn from across the room and approaches.

  
"Hello, Jamison. Hello, Ashlyn." She smiles sweetly.

  
"Hey, Doc." He salutes as he passes her by, heading straight for the buffet.

  
"Come, let's get you something to eat." She ushers her over to a stack of plates, soon placing one in her hand. "Utensils are here with the plates. Don't be afraid to tell me if you have any food allergies so we can accommodate you."

  
Ashlyn couldn't help feeling a sweet motherly vibe from her, bring a smile to her face. "Aren't you going to eat, doctor?"

  
With a kind smile, she gives her a gentle nudge towards the rows of food. "Oh, don't worry about me. I've already eaten."

  
"So... who are the people in uniform?" She motions to rest of the room.

  
"We have many volunteers here in Gibraltar. Engineers, scientist, mechanics and our kitchen staff... they do the best they can around here to keep us up and running. They are wonderful people and very nice. Hard workers too."

  
Ashlyn nods. "So... they don't go out with you guys..?"

  
Angela shakes her head. "Oh no! Many of the volunteers have other jobs and lives outside of Overwatch. Although there are a few who would like to join, but we don't risk it."

  
"Oh... okay..." Ashlyn shrugs.

  
_Oh boy... and they want me to fight with them?_

  
"Now go eat. You've had a long trip and you need your calories." She places a hand on her hip and wags her finger at her lecturing fashion. "And don't forget you have an appointment with me tomorrow morning."

  
"Yes, ma'am." Ashlyn letting out a nervous chuckle, slightly cowering under her gaze.

  
Giving her another angelic smile she makes her leave. "I'll have Athena set an alarm for you, dear. Guet nacht. See you in the morning!"

  
Ashlyn shivers at the thought of tomorrows check up, praying silently to herself that needles won't be involved. Her stomach growls bringing her back from her thoughts.  
"Hooley Dooley! I heard that from over here!" Junkrat cackles from the other side of the buffet. He plops a large ladle full of mashed potatoes onto his plate now hiding whatever it was that was underneath.

  
"So, what's good." She asked looking over the spread.

  
"Everything. They got some ace cooks back there! Ya better get some chow before Roadie comes up for seconds." He chuckled before leaning in and whispering. _"Don't tell him I said that."_

  
She makes a zipping motion over her mouth.

  
"Thanks, mate."

  
She watches him hobble off to the table where Roadhog is still seated, ripping into a potato covered chicken wing before he even sits down. Filling her plate Ashlyn makes her way towards the tables. Tracer waves her hand to grab her attention, grinning widely she pats the spot next to her. Ashlyn obliged taking the seat and placing her tray on the table. Across from them were Mei and Zarya.

  
Mei smiled politely. "Hello again, Ashlyn. I hope you had enough time to unpack."

  
Ashlyn nods, twisting her fork in her pasta. "Oh yeah! More than enough time. The room is amazing by the way..." She takes a bite of her food, humming happily. "So good."

  
"Hope your new neighbor won't be any trouble." Mei frowns.

  
"Da, Tracer tells us he has been teasing you." Zarya slams her fist into her palm. "Need me to sort him out?"

  
"I guess he has been..." Ashlyn's laughs nervously. "I don't think you have to 'sort him out' though... I've been ignoring his attempts at flirting with me. He's probably just trying to get a rise out of me... but overall he's been nice... could be worse I guess." She shrugs before taking another bite. "I'm sure he does it to you girls all the time."  
Mei shakes her head and sighs. "Well... once..."

  
Zarya grumbled. "He tried it once to my Mei. Let us just say he didn't try it again."

  
" _Your Mei?_ " Ashlyn giggles.

  
"Da! She is my special lady!" She pulls her in close and kisses her atop her head. Mei's face flushing.

  
"Love at first site, it was!" Tracer rests her chin in her palm smiling. "They've been inseparable ever since."

  
"That's so sweet!"Ashlyn beams.

  
"Yep... since then he hasn't tried anything like that with any of the gals around here." Tracer gives her a sly smile and nudges her with her shoulder. "He must think you're a real catch if he's going out of his way to tease ya like that."

  
Ashlyn blushes and rolls her eyes. "Sure he does..." She mutters.

  
Mei gives her a firm look. "If he tries anything indecent, let someone know."

  
Ashlyn gives her a reassuring smile. "I told you, I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. Had a guy do this in my art class in college. I'll pass..." She laughs. "Once I've been here for a while, I'm sure it'll stop bothering me. He'll get bored eventually."

  
Mei frowns. "Okay... if you say so..."

  
Ashlyn looks over to Zarya, noticing her tattoo. "Nice ink, but why 512?"

  
Zarya flexes her arm with a smile. "Thank you! 512 is how much I can lift!"

  
"In pounds?" She tilts her head.

  
Zarya burst out into laughter. "Pounds! Hah! Don't make me laugh! I lift 512 kilograms!"

  
Ashlyn's eyes widen and her mouth goes agape. " _Jesus Christ_...Remind me never to piss you off!"

  
"Noted!" Zarya grins. "I take it you will not want to arm wrestle me either?"

  
Ashlyn shakes her head vigorously. "Hell no! I'd like to keep my one good arm that I have, thank you."

  
Zarya falls into another fit of laughter. "I like you!"

  
Ashlyn laughs sheepishly. "That's good..."

  
\----

  
After dinner, Ashlyn walks back to the dormitory along with Tracer, Zarya, and Mei. Entering the communal area, they find Lucio and Hana playing video games and Junkrat sprawled out on the far end of the couch watching. The four women part ways to go to their own rooms for bed, but the game they were playing caught her eye.  
"Mind if I watch?" Ashlyn pipes up softly, trying not to startle anyone.

  
Lucio and Junkrat turn to her. "Hey there, Firebug!"

  
She smiles and rolls her eyes. "Are you ever going to call me by my first name?"

  
Junkrat cackles. "Probably not. I like Firebug better."

  
"Whatever...  _Jamison_..."

  
"Oi!" He scowls. "It's Junkrat, remember!?"

  
"Yeah, yeah." She walks over to the couch, pushing Junkrat's leg down to make room for herself. He makes a face at her as she sits. "So what'cha playing?"

  
Lucio smiles. "Dead or Alive 12..."

  
Her eyes widen. "12?"

  
He and Hana laugh. "Yeah, it's literally the same game they've made eleven times before this, but it's still fun for some reason. Wanna try?"

  
Junkrat cackles. "Against the video game queen? She'll wipe the floor with'er. No offense, Firebug."

  
"And don't you forget it!" Hana smiles widely.

  
Ashlyn smiles. "None taken... just watching. I've gotta get up and see Dr. Ziegler in the morning so I can't be up to much later.."

  
"I'll be hittin' the hay soon too.." Junkrat yawns. "I'm am tired as hell..." He drapes his arm around her and leans in with a sly smile. "Saving a damsal in distress really wipes a fella out!"

  
She puts her hand on his face pushing him away from her. "Shut up, you."

  
She could feel his smile only grow under her hand as he chuckles. She screams as she feels his tongue lap at her palm jumping and pulling her hand away as if it had been burned.

  
"Ew! You licked me!" She pushes him to off of the couch laughing all the while as he hit the floor with a thud. "You're such a brat!" She throws a pillow at him.

  
Catching it he gives her a toothy smile that stretches across his face." _Who me!?_ Never!"

  
Lucio chuckles. "Well at least you two get along, I guess."

  
Hana nods in agreement. "Maybe a little too well."

  
Ashlyn's face grows a little warmer than she'd like. "Getting along and tolerating are two different things." She huffed, then wiping the saliva off of her hand on Junkrat's shorts. "Have your spit back, ya nasty. _Bleh!_ "

  
Junkrat cackles throwing the pillow back. "Whatever you say, Firebug."

  
Ashlyn catches the pillow and huffs. "I think that's a hint for me to go to bed." She gets up from the couch and steps over Junkrat. "Good night."

  
"Aw, man. You scared her off." Lucio frowns and Junkrat.

  
"Did not!"

  
"No... Just time for bed. Maybe we'll play video games tomorrow... I have a feeling Soldiers going to want to talk to me about 'training' tomorrow after my checkup..." She grumbles. "I'm not really looking forward to that. I hate exercising..."

  
Lucio nods. "Yeah... he can be a tough one too. But he's doin' it to help you. Just keep reminding yourself that when you fell like quitin'."

  
Hana cracks her gum. "He can be a real hardass sometimes, but he's cool."

  
Ashlyn smiles. "I'll keep that in mind... thanks, guys. Good night.."

  
"Night." Hana and Lucio wave.

  
Junkrat rolls over onto his side, rests his head in his hand, and wiggles his brows at her."Need me to tuck ya in?"

  
She glares. "Don't make me hurt you..."

  
"Don't make promises you can't keep!"

  
Back in her room, she curls up on her bed holding her Pachimari to her chest. Finding herself in a situation that she would have never imagined in her wildest dreams. She was excited and afraid... but most of all she missed her family.

  
Rolling onto her back, she stares at the ceiling. "Athena, is there a way I can contact my family?"

  
"Yes. You can call your family from a secured line using the tablet provided to you in your desk."

  
She sits up swiftly eagerly looking over at the desk... "Could I do it now? Would they even be awake...? And would it be okay, I mean.. with Winston?"

  
"Winston had already been notified by Tracer about your family in the debriefing, so you may call your family if you wish. We are 6 hours ahead of the timezone from your hometown. It's currently 9 p.m. here."

  
She jumps out of bed tossing her pachimari behind her, it hits the wall with a 'squeak'. Pulling open several drawers in the desk she finally finds the one with the tablet. Scrolling through the apps she finds one that looks like a phone, clicking it, then dialing her mother's number. The dial tone rings a few times before a familiar voice pipes up from the speaker.

  
"Hello?"

  
Ashlyn feels her heart skip a beat. "Momma!?"

  
"Oh my god, Ashlyn?! Are you okay!? Where are you!? Your sisters and I thought you were hurt, kidnaped or worse! I saw what you did on tv!! You had me worried sick! I'm going to kick your ass next time I see you!!"

  
Ashlyn chuckles and feels her eyes well up with tears.

  
_Same old mom._

  
"I'm fine, mom. Just... it's been a crazy couple of days..."

  
"You're calling from a private number... where are you?"

  
She bites her lip. "Well... I'm not sure what all I can tell you right now."

  
"What do you mean?"

  
"Ya see... I may be in Europe at the moment... and I've kinda been offered a job..."

  
The line stays quite for a few moments.

  
"You're in Europe?"

  
"Mhm.."

  
"How the hell did you get there, and WHY are you there!? I know you're a grown woman, but you really need to tell me when you're going to just up and leave the country!"

  
"I didn't really have a choice.... it's a long story..."

  
A long heated conversation ensues between Ashlyn and her mother for a while. She tells her of her being in jail, attempted kidnapping, and her rescue.

  
"So... who are these people?" Her mother prys.  
Ashlyn sighs. "I don't think I can say... but call you with more information when I know what kind of information I can even give out. I'm going to ask tomorrow to be sure..."

  
"So this job... what kind of job is it?"

  
Ashlyn chuckles. "To be honest... and don't laugh." She pauses. "I think I might make me some kind of superhero. Fighting crime and shit..."

  
Her mother bursts into a fit of laughter. "Are you serious!?"

  
Ashlyn grumbles in annoyance. "I told you not to laugh! I'm just telling you what I know, okay!? They want me to help them... and it's not like I really have a choice... so I have to make due with the cards I've been dealt here."

  
Her mother takes a moment to catch her breath. "Okay, okay... just... whatever you do... be careful, okay? I don't want to lose you."

  
"I will mom. I'm always careful."

  
"Call me whenever you can.... and I'll let your sisters know you're alright... I'll have Tracie pick up your things from your apartment tomorrow."

  
"Thanks, mom. I love ya..."

  
"Love you too, Ashie."

  
Ashlyn hangs up and places the tablet on the table. Sighing she climbs into bed pulling the covers up to her cheeks.  
I'll ask Dr. Ziegler more tomorrow... maybe she'll have some answers.

  
She hears a familiar 'ka-thunk ka-thunk' of Junkrat's pegleg before his muffled voice comes from behind the door.

  
"Nighty-night, Firebug!"

  
She grumbles and covers her head with her covers. Closing her eye tight as if to be faking she was already asleep. Letting her mind clear and focus on anything else but that crazy Junker... her mind fades to black... slipping again into a deep slumber.


	5. "I ain't scared of nothin'!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashlyn sees Angela for her checkup, but with someone extra!
> 
> (What Ashlyn looks like! [Link](https://blizzekawaii-blog.tumblr.com/post/158943742329/this-is-ashlyn-elliot-she-is-the-character-im))

**_Beep - Beep - Beep - Beep!_ **

  
Ashlyn jerks awake, nearly falling out of bed.

  
"JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH!"

  
Grogilly, she gropes around the bed and nightstand for the source of the alarm so she can cease the noise.

  
"Good morning, Ashlyn." Athena shuts off the alarm and slowly raises the lights. "Good to see you're awake."

  
Peeling away the layers of her blanket cocoon, Ashlyn sits up dangles her legs off the edge of the bed. Her hair a tousled mess with various tufts and strands standing on end. She groggily rubs one eye at a time, giving each a turn to adjust to the light.

  
"What time is it...?" She mumbles.

  
"8 A.M." Athena replies in a rather matter-of-fact way.

  
Ashlyn groans loudly falling back into her bed and covers her face with some of the blankets.

  
"Too early..." She whines.

  
"Dr. Ziegler asked me to give you time to be up, get a shower, and have breakfast. She'll be meeting you there in the mess hall."

  
Ashlyn hums. "Well... that was nice of her..." She smiles and begrudgingly rose from her bed and retreated to the restroom.

  
A quick shower later and her teeth brushed, she gets herself dressed. Pulling her hair back and slipping on her shoes she leaves her room to head to the mess hall.

  
On arrival, she can smell bacon, sausage, end eggs. She smiles and lets out a blissful sigh, feeling her mouth water. On the budget she had been living on a breakfast was usually a pop-tart on the run or a bowl of cereal. Getting to have a real breakfast for once will be a real treat. Filling her plate to the brim with as much as she could then takes her seat at one of the tables. She eagerly takes a bite humming happily.

  
_Oh yeah... I could get used to this..._

  
"Guete morge, Ashlyn."

  
Angela sits down in the seat in front of her with a plate of her own and a cup of coffee. She smiles pleasantly and takes a sip.

  
Ashlyn smiles in return. "Good morning, doctor! Thanks for getting me up in time for this wonderful breakfast! It's heavenly... The food here is fantastic."

  
"I agree!" She beams and brushes a strand of golden hair from her face. "So... After you've finished, we'll head straight for the clinic. It's not far, but to save you the trouble of getting lost in this maze of a building, I wanted to be your guide."

  
"Oh, thank goodness... with my sense of direction I would have got lost for sure." Ashlyn chuckles and takes a big bite of grits.

  
Suddenly a tray is boisterously placed beside her on the table with Junkrat sitting down rather roughly in the seat next to her making her jump.

  
"Morning, Fireball! You're up early!"

  
She glares at him panting heavily. "A warning would have been nice! You _scared_ me..."

  
He cackles and rips into his waffle like an animal would it's prey. "Where's the fun in that!?"

  
Taking another sip of her coffee, Angela looks over at him, he not noticing her presence just yet. "Good morning, Jamison..."

  
He pauses and peers up at her mid-bite. "Mornin'..."

  
"You have been avoiding me..." She gives him a content smile and rests her head in her palm. " You know still have to get your flu shot."

  
He clears his throat and purses his lips. "I ain't been avoiding anybody... just been busy... with stuff..."

  
Her smile faded and gave him a very unconvinced look. "I see... well... regardless, Jamison, you need your shot."

  
He grimaces. "Do not..."

  
Her brows furrow. "Yes, you do. You had the worst cold last winter and you gave it to everyone on base. You're getting your flu shot."

  
"Don't like needles..." He mumbles and taking another bite of his waffle. "Can't make me get no shot..."

  
Ashlyn smiles and pats his shoulder. " _Aww._ Widdle Junkrat scared of needles?" She bites her lip and stifled a laugh.

  
He shrugs off her hand and growls. "I told ya before! I ain't scared of nothing!" He scowls at her. "Just... don't like being jabbed and shot up with who knows what..."

  
Angela sighs heavily and rubs her temples. _"Sometimes I'm not sure why I even bother..."_

  
Ashlyn ponders for a moment while looking between the two. "Tell you what... I'm due for my flu shot." She turns to Junkrat. "What if I get mine first and then you go...?"

  
They both look at her for a moment. Junkrat looks at her as if she had lobsters crawling out of her ears, but Anela looking rather intrigued.

  
"What do you say, Jamison?" Angela sips her coffee smiling over her mug.

  
Ashlyn smiles deviously and leans closer to him and gives him a flirtatious smile. "I'll hold your hand if you need me to... only if it makes you feel better." she coos.

  
His cheeks flushed notably even under the layers of soot. He leans away and chuckles nervously. Ashlyn smile only widens. It felt good to get him back for all the teasing he does to her. She was amused to see how easily was to get him flustered.

  
_Oh ho ho! Casanova is really isn't such a Casanova after all. Ha!_

  
Angela stifles a soft giggle, covering her mouth politely. "Isn't that thoughtful, Jamison?"

  
He clears his throat and tries to avoid eye contact with Ashlyn. "U-um..." He quickly takes the last few bites of his waffle looking in the opposite direction of the two women. "F-Fine! If it gets Doc off my back!"

  
Angela and Ashlyn look at each other and giggle. Angela extends a hand for a high-five and she obliges.

  
\---

  
Soon after breakfast the three are off to Angela's clinic.

  
Ashlyn looks over to see Junkrat audibly sucking on his gold tooth and grumbling to himself as they walk side by side. She grins and nudges him.

  
"Are you nervous?"

  
His face scrunches and crosses his arms. "No! Told ya I ain't scared..."

  
"Don't worry..." She smiles and bumps into him gently. "To be honest I'm not a big fan of needles either..."

  
He scoffs. "You? Afraid of needles? Coming from the shiela covered in ink!"

  
"Tattoo needles are different for some reason..."

  
_"Sure!"_ He rolls his eyes.

  
She smiles up at him and giggles. "I'll still hold your hand though if you need me to."

  
His face flushes again and looks away.

  
"Here we are!"

  
Angela stops at a metal door with a small window, but it was tinted and you couldn't see inside. Above the door was a sign reading 'Med Bay' and a red caduceus. Turning a key in the door, she holds it open so the others may enter. Ashlyn crosses the threshold quickly as to not let her hold the door for too long, but Junkrat hesitates and examines the door wearily.

  
"Come now, Jamison." She motions to the door. "Not to be rude, dear, but we don't have all day." She taps her wrist watch and gives him a stern look.

  
"I could always leave, you know..." He looks away. "You know what? I think I will. _Bye!_ " He turns on his heal and waves to them.

  
Before he could walk off Ashlyn moves quickly to his side and takes him by the arm. His eyes widen and gulps when he sees her next to him. His face and ears flushing again when she pouts at him.

  
"You'd make me get my shot all by myself after I was so nice to you..." She frowned.

  
He grumbles and shrugs away from her grasp. _"Fine!_ Let's get the shit over with!" He pushes past she and Angela mumbling profanities under his breath.

  
Ashlyn rolls her eyes smiling as she passes Angela to enter. Angela chuckles and closes the door behind them.

  
"Just take a seat over here for a moment..." Angela opens a cabinet retrieving a few things and puts them on a small cart.

  
Junkrat sits and Ashlyn takes the seat next to him on his left. He was already bouncing his leg and chewing his lip anxiously. Ashlyn kicking her legs lightly being a little too short to touch the floor as she looks around the room.

  
The room was pristine. A place for everything and everything in its place. Everything was tidy, medicine and patient files all in alphabetical order from what she could tell. Most of the machines were large and a little intimidating. Unsure of their purpose, she was silently hoping they would never have to be used on her. The walls and tile a stark white and the chrome on all the appliances were polished to perfection. If she didn't know any better, she would say that this room had never been touched.

  
_I have never seen a room so clean... maybe I should pay her to clean mine once and a while..._

  
Angela gives them a pleasant smile, rolling the cart over to the two of them. She pulls out two gloves from a box on the bottom rack and snaps them into place.  
Junkrat flinches at the sound and slowly starts to lose his composure. He fidgets anxiously, tapping his metal fingers against the stool and grumbling to himself. His eyes darting around the room like a caged animal searching for an open door or window so they could escape.

  
"Okay, Ashlyn. You first." Angela tears open a small square package and pulls out a sanitary cloth. She wipes her right shoulder and discards the cloth before popping the cap off of the needle. Extracting a small amount from a vile, she flicks the sides of the needle to get rid of any bubbles. Grasping Ashlyn's shoulder she pierces her arm swiftly and empties the needle.

  
"There you go, dear. All done." She smiles placing a bandage over the bead of blood.

  
"Alright Jamison, your turn."

  
Junkrat stiffens. "Oh! Damn! Just remembered there was a thing I needed to do! Gonna have to cancel, Doc!" He tries to stand but is put firmly back into his seat letting out a small whimper.

  
"It will only take a moment." Angela smiles despite the firm tone in her voice.

  
He turns to Ashlyn giving her a pleading expression.

  
Ashlyn smiles reassuringly. "I promise. It's not bad, you can bearly feel it." She holds her hand out.

  
He frowns looking rather unconvinced before taking her hand hesitantly. He jumps as the wipe touches his arm. " _Hooley Dooley!_ That's fucking cold, mate!"

  
Angela painstakingly scrubs through the layers of grime and soot covering his tattoo. Three cloths later she finally had a small area clean, looking rather strange compared to the rest of him. He grimaces when he sees the hole made in his protective layer of filth.

  
"Aw, Doc! Now I look down right weird. I'm gonna have to cover that back up!"

  
She sighs. _"You could always just wash the rest of you..."_

  
His eyes narrow and mumbles something under his breath, probably some sort of profanity. His lets out a little uneasy squeak when he sees the needle and grips Ashlyn's hand when Angela takes hold of his arm.

  
"It helps if you don't look..." Ashlyn grips his hand back. "Just look somewhere else. Anywhere else."

  
He looks at her with a really worried expression on his face, but Ashlyn smiles.

  
"I promise."

  
He flinches suddenly and Angela places a bandage on his arm.

  
"All done, Jamison. You're free to go." She pats him on the back.

  
Junkrat blushes and pulls his hand away from Ashlyn quickly. He stands nearly running to the door. He stops just as he opens it, turning and looking at Ashlyn. "...thanks..." He walks out and closes the door behind him.

  
Tossing the discarded needles into a sanitary bin and cleaning up the wipes, Angela puts on a new pair of gloves. "That was very sweet of you."

  
Ashlyn shrugs. "Eh... nothing really. I try to treat people they way I want to be treated..."

  
Angela giggles. "Don't let that get to his head. He'll start getting the wrong idea. Not many women around here aren't that kind. He may fall head over heels for you." She retrieves a clipboard and motions for Ashlyn to take a seat on the examination table.

  
Ashlyn blushes and sits as she was told. "I doubt that. I can see me being his friend though. Weird guy, but nice."

  
"Weird is a good word for him." Angela smiles and looks through the papers on her clipboard. "Okay! So..." she looks at her phone. "The table measures your weight..." she scribbles it down. "How tall are you dear?"

  
"Five feet tall, two inches..."

  
"Alright, dear... do you smoke, drink, or do any kind of drugs?"

  
"No, only socially, and no."

  
Angela writes on her sheets and flips the page. "Any chronical illness, pain, or medications you're taking?"

  
"Mmm.. nope, nope aaaaand nope." She smiles kicking her legs slightly.

  
She takes her temperature, feels around her neck for her glands, and listens to her heart and lungs. "You are in fine health, Ms. Ashlyn! Now how is your prosthetic holding up? You've modified it and I want to make sure your connections are still good."

  
"I've only modified from the elbow down, but go right ahead." She holds out her arm.

  
"Your skin grafts healed nicely." Angela gropes around the socket. "Any pain or discomfort?"

  
Ashlyn shakes her head and demonstrates to her the functionality of her arm. Bending and extending the arm in ways that she asks. Wiggling her fingers and rolling her wrists.  
"Very good. You're tip-top, my dear." Angela pats Ashlyn on the shoulder, giving her permission to stand.

  
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "You there, Angela? Can I come in?"

  
"Yes, Jack. Come on it."

  
Soldier walks through the door. Ashlyn's eyebrows raise when she see's he's not wearing his visor. She's surprised to see how handsome he was for an older man despite his scars.

  
"Wanted to check in on the new recruit, how she doin'?"

  
Angela smiled. "She's very healthy and I'd say she's ready for training soon."

  
"Good to hear!" He grinned. "By the way... was that Junkrat with a bandaid on his arm? I passed him on the way here... did he finally get his flu shot?"

  
Angela nods. "Indeed he has, thanks to Ashlyn here. She convinced him to do it."

  
He nods and crosses his arms. "Good work. With flu season coming up, we don't need a repeat of last fall's fiasco."

  
He approaches. "So, about training..."

  
Ash smiles nervously. "Uh-huh...?"

  
He takes a seat on one of the stools in front of her. "We're going to be doing some endurance training at first get you in shape. You never know what's going to happen out there and you gotta stay on your toes. We've got state of the art training facilities here and we expect you take full advantage of it. I'll take it that your arm doesn't shoot very far..?"

  
She nods. "It shoots roughly three feet, but I don't want to force it. It would be a waste of fuel."

  
"Then, in that case, you'll need another weapon for sure. Your arm is good for up close encounters, but we'll need to get you familiar with a gun of some kind. Possibly a handgun." He ponders.

"Well, I took a gun safety course back home... I didn't know I couldn't conceal carry in my county so I didn't buy a gun. I passed though." She shrugs. "Does that help?"

He nods and smiles. "That does help actually. With a basic knowledge, you should take to a handgun fairly quickly... when it comes to pistols and other handguns, the best teacher for that would be McCree. With Captain Amari still on a mission, we can have McCree start teaching you right away." He stands and walks towards the door. "I'll go fetch McCree and we'll meet you at the training grounds. Angela, could you show her the way?"

  
Angela smiles. "Of course. We'll leave straight away."

  
"See you there."

  
\---

  
Meanwhile, Junkrat practically stomps to the hangar.

  
"Roadie! You in here!?"

  
"Whaat!?" His gruff voice echoing through the large room.

  
Junkrat searches around a few mounds of supplies before finding Roadhog knelt on one knee tending to his precious motorcycle.

  
"Roadie! I need to talk to you!" Junkrat takes a seat on a large crate in front of him.

  
Roadhog looks up at him for a moment and tilts his head. "What's with the band-aid...?"

  
"I got me flu shot..." He grumbles.

  
Roadhog nods and goes back to his tinkering. "What made you do that? You hid from Ziegler anytime you saw her so you didn't have to get it..."

  
"That's what I came to talk to you about!" He huffs and crosses his arms. "That new sheila is up to no good I tell ya! She's going to be nothing but trouble!"

  
Roadhog sighs. "And why's that, Rat?"

  
"She's too nice!" Junkrat throws his arms over his head dramatically. "WAY too nice! She's up to something!"

  
Roadhog stays silent nodding occasionally.

  
"For example! Just this mornin' while we were eatin' breakie, Doc was doggin' me about me flu shot like normal, right? Then the new shiela says, she'll get her if I get mine... she said she even go first! Smiling and being all nice! Even said she'd hold my hand if I was scared..." His cheeks flush as he looks at the ground, but shakes his head quickly. "BUT I WASN'T!"

  
Roadhog looks up at him scratching his forehead. "So she was being nice to ya... so what?"

  
"So what?! HA! Means she's up to something! Ain't nobody that nice! 'Cept maybe Lucio, but I'm pretty sure he's secretly planning world domination... with dubstep..." He rubs his chin pondering how that would be accomplished, easily distracted from the current issue.

  
"So... what could she possibly be up to?" Hog asks rather sarcastically.

  
"I dunno! Might want to kill me or something! Slit me throat in my sleep! Maybe she's some sorta secret agent or some shit!" His eyes narrow. "Even said she thought me pegleg was 'cool'..." He mocks making quotation marks with his fingers. "Sheilas don't like peglegs!"

  
Roadhog turns and goes through his tool box. "How do you know...?"

  
"Because they don't!" Junkrat folds his arms over his chest. "Up to no good, I tell ya..."

  
There was a silence between the two for a while. Junkrat pondering of all the ways Ashlyn would try to kill him or rob him, Roadhog only tightening a bolt on the tire of his hog.

  
"So... you hold her hand?"

  
Junkrat's eyes widen, his body from the chest up flushes beet red. "NO!"

  
Hog breaks out into a fit of raspy chuckles. "You did! Hahaha! _Chicken..._ "

  
_"FUCK OFF!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was fairly short compared to the last chapter, but I wanted to save the 'training' for a chapter of its own.  
> Hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> Thank you for the kind comments and for those who bookmarked my fic! I'm so flattered and happy that you like it!


	6. "I can hear my muscles screaming already..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cue training montage!
> 
> What is Roadhog going to do with this boy... -face/palm-

Angela and Ashlyn step out of the clinic shortly after Soldier, Angela locking the door behind them. Side by side they walk around the outside of the compound on what could easily be the most beautiful day Ashlyn had ever seen, the sea wind through her hair and the warm sun resting on her shoulders. She smiles widely, taking in a deep breath of the crisp sea air.

 

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Ashlyn hums.

 

Angela silently nods in agreement but her eyes stare ahead as they walk, as if her thoughts were miles away. Ashlyn examines her face and her smile slowly fades.

 

"You look worried... Is something wrong?" She asks softly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

 

Angela flinches under her touch. "Oh!" She shakes her head and smiles to Ashlyn reassuringly. "No, dear. Just thinking..."

 

Ashlyn's brows furrow quizzically, watching Angela. Her body language still puzzling her, she decides to pry again. "Are you sure?"

 

Angela smiles and lets out a defeated sigh. "Nothing get's past you, eh?" She chuckles softly.

 

Ashlyn grins puffs out her chest. "It's a gift I suppose."

 

"I am a little worried about your training..." 

 

"That bad, huh?" Ashlyn chuckles nervously.

 

Angela frowns. "Jack is known to be a little... hard on our newer agents and I worry he'll push you too hard." She stops in front a large door branded 'Armory and Firing Range' and turns to Ashlyn, placing her hand softly on her shoulder. "Know your limits. Don't push yourself."

 

Ashlyn takes her arm and tries to give a reassuring smile.  "Don't worry... I'll still do my best but I'm never one to push myself too hard... you're talking to the girl who found every excuse in the book to skip gym class."

 

Angela raises a brow. "That doesn't mean you should try to get out of training... I'm just saying be careful."

 

"I know." Ashlyn beams. "But... don't think it won't cross my mind."

 

Angela punches in a code on the door and it hisses open. "The code for this door is simple. Punch in your birthday and Athena will read your fingerprint. Because this is a restricted area you need both to enter. All restricted area doors will be like this unless it's for specific personnel and in that case, you cannot enter. Athena will let you know."

 

"Fair enough." Ashlyn follows her through the entrance.

 

The room was fairly large, boxes piled up along the wall to her left and to her right was a firing range. The walls were a slate gray and the temperature in the room was surprisingly frigid. Sitting on the edge of the firing range was the scruffy chinned man she had met the day before. He tips his hat politely as he chews on his cigar. His companion was sitting on one of the crates along the left wall. (Maybe put a description of Hanzo here?) . He silently reads a book with Japanese written on the cover, seeming as though he hadn't noticed them coming in.

 

"There you are." Soldier approaches from the far side of the room. "Miss Ashlyn, you've already met McCree and Hanzo here..." He motions with his head.

 

She nods as McCree walks up to her smiling widely. "Howdy." He held out a hand politely and she obliges, shaking his hand firmly.

 

"Nice to see ya. Hope you're gettin' along alright with the new digs and all..."

 

"Oh, I am! The rooms great and everyone's been really nice so far."

 

"Good to hear!" He grins and wraps an arm around Soldier making his lips purse. "76 here says you're looking to get friendly with a gun. Well, you've chose the right man for the job."

 

Soldier unwraps himself from McCree's grasp. "Let's not waste any time here..." He grumbles narrowing his eyes at the younger man.

 

"I hear ya.... oh..." He looks takes his cigar in his forefinger and thumb. "Anyone got a light?"

 

Ashlyn holds out her left palm, the valve opens ever so slightly making a tiny blue flame in the center. She holds it up to McCree.

 

"Well, I'll be damned. I'd say that's pretty  _ 'handy' _ , eh Hanzo!"

 

Hanzo rolls his eyes, trying his best to ignore the punny cowboy.

 

He laughs, clearly amused by his own joke before leaning in and lighting his cigar on the tiny flame and puffs out a few clouds. Ashlyn makes a sour face with a few nervous chuckles escaping her lips before blowing out the flame and closing the valve.

 

_ Oh, that was bad... _

 

Angela frowns and taps her foot. "You know there is no smoking in here, Jesse."

 

He smiles and shrugs nonchalantly. "Doesn't mean I don't do it when you're not here, Doc. And nobody's complained yet... 'cept you that is..."

 

She looks to Soldier. "Are you going to say something?"

 

Soldier just shakes his head and sighs deeply. "He doesn't listen to me either, Angela... I don't really have time to fight with him about it today either.."

 

"Fine..." She grumbles. "I have to check up on Mr. Fawkes anyway... he left in a hurry and I'm sure he's sulking somewhere..." Angela turns and waves as she makes her leave. "Good luck, dear!"

 

"Bye!" Ashlyn's smile soon turns to a grimace as she's faced away from Soldier and mutters under her breath... "I'm going to need it..."

 

"Alright there, Missy!" She feels a hand grasp her shoulder and pulls her towards the firing range. McCree spins her around to face the range and places a 9mm her hands. "Let's see what'cha know..." He crosses his arms. "76 here says you've taken a safety course..." He motions to the gun. "Go ahead, show me how ya take it off safety for starters..."

 

"Oh! Um.." She looks at the left side of the gun for a small toggle and flips it with her thumb and points it toward the ground. "Safety off..." She states with a smile.

 

He nods. "Okay there, smarty pants... pull one in the chamber."

 

She pulls the slide back on the gun making a loud clicking noise. McCree nods again and then motions towards the paper targets that have already been set up.

 

"Now empty the clip." He grins in a teasing manner. "I'll move it up closer if you need to..."

 

"Perhaps you should remind her of the proper way to hold her gun." Hanzo chimes in, all the while not removing his gaze from his book.

 

McCree turns slowly to look at him with a tight smile. "Thanks,  _ darlin' _ . I'll do that."

 

"Hm." Hanzo grumbles.

 

"Alright..." He starts. "First off... show me how you'd hold it..."

 

She extends her right arm holding the gun towards the paper target. Her finger extended along the side of the gun as to not put it on the trigger. With her other hand, she places it underneath the butt of the gun and her hand.

 

Soldier and McCree both shake their heads. 

 

"Nope." McCree chuckles. "Close, but not close enough."

 

He moves her mechanical hand up to cover her other fingers and places her thumb parallel to her flesh one.

 

"Ya see, the way you were holdin' it is how they do in the movies...but the proper way to hold it is with both hands like I showed ya there..."

 

She nods but gives him a quizzical look. "So, what's the difference?"

 

"Glad you asked." He pulls out his own gun to demonstrate. "We call it the 'tea-cup' grip..." He mimics her first position. "With the 'tea-cup' you don't have enough control with the recoil."

 

He positions his hand to mirror hers but puts his thumb over the other. "Never do this... that's a good way to get your thumb caught in the slide..." He pauses and looks at her non flesh hand. "Not that you could get your skin caught in the slide that is... but that's not the point."

 

She rolls her eyes smiling. "So, now empty the clip?"

 

He nods firmly. "Go for it, kid." He holsters his weapon again and motions to the target.

 

**POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP!**

_ Click-click! _

 

With the 15 rounds spent she sits it down on the counter in front of her. The target moves toward them on a tiny conveyor and McCree rubs his chin as he looks it over as a small smile grows on his face.

 

"Not bad, newbie... good grouping!"

 

"Agreed, but could use some more work... there's always room to improve. You should come down every day if you can and unload a few clips to practice your aim. The closer your grouping is the better. Don't worry about headshots. They're messy and nine times out of ten you'll miss so don't risk it. Go for body shots." Soldier hands her a box of shells. "Now reload it."

 

She gives them a small smile as she presses the release to the clip and it slides into her hand. As she loads each bullet she can't help but feel a little down. She could feel it now, Soldier was going to be the overachieving father figure who isn't ever satisfied with your best... because  _ your _ best is never good enough. She thought back on what Angela had said,  _ "Jack is known to be a little... hard on newer agents and I worry he'll push you too hard." _ ...

 

She felt her heart sink for a moment and tries to shake off the feeling before it got to her head. Self-doubt was always an issue for her and it always got the best of her. Afraid of letting down people she cared for or those who needed her most kept her from really pushing to achieve anything more than what she considered safe. For a moment she felt like quitting before she even began, unsure what the future will hold and who all she would let down. 

 

_ What if I’m not good enough?  _

 

She presses each bullet in one by one slowly losing her confidence when she remembered something Lucio had said.

_ "But he's doing it to help you. Just keep reminding yourself that when you feel like quittin'." _

 

She was already setting herself up for failure before it even had a chance to prove herself. She barely knew these people and they already believed in her. Blindly without even knowing who she was... what a coward she actually is. Standing up to those rioters was the first brave thing she had ever done in her life and it brought her here. She was with some of the strangest band of people she had ever met and they wanted her to join them. They wanted to make her one of them... a hero... her! Of all people!

 

_ And why shouldn't I be!? Get it together Ash! The only thing you should be quitting is being a shallow sack of shit you always are! Now's a chance to change! _

 

Her lips purse and her brows furrow as she slides the clip into the gun and sets it back to safety placing it back on the counter.

 

"What's up, little lady? You look like you were miles away..." McCree raises a quizzical brow.

 

She slowly shakes her head. "Just thinking too much..." She takes a deep breath and straightens up and puts on a smile. "So, what's next coach!"

 

_ You've got this! _

 

Soldier smiles and places his hands on his hips. "Now that we know you can handle a gun, let's see if you can handle yourself on the field. We have an obstacle course on site. Perfect for field training. We'll put you through that first."

 

Her smile fades a slowly as the horrors of gym class slip into her mind. "Heh...  _ yaaaay _ ..." She fails to hide her disdain through a forced smile.

 

Hanzo rises from his seat placing the book in his robe. "If we are no longer needed here, I will take my leave." He passes McCree and stops to bow to Ashlyn. "I apologize for being rather withdrawn. I am usually not very  _ 'chatty' _ , as McCree would say. Just rather reserved... so forgive me if I come off as rude."

 

She holds her hands up slightly. "Oh, no biggie. You just seemed really into what you were reading... I don't want you to ever feel like you have to force yourself to talk to me... just... if you feel like it." She shrugs giving him a smile.

 

"Hm. I will keep that in mind." He offers a small smile. "Farewell, Ashlyn. Good luck."

 

She smiles and bows back politely. "Arigatogozaimashta."

 

He chuckles to himself and nods to her. "Doitashimashite."

 

Hanzo turns to McCree. "I am going to go meditate for a while, Jesse. I will see you at dinner."

 

"Alright, darlin'."

 

McCree slaps him briskly on the behind as Hanzo faces away from him to leave. He stiffens and whips his head around shooting him a glare that could cut through steel. 

 

"Meditate on  _ that _ , sugar." McCree returns the glare with a wink.

 

Hanzo's face grimaces, but at the same time shift to the brightest shade of red before he stops off retreating through the large door. 

 

Soldier sighs and makes his way across the room to a door on the far wall. "Come on..." He beckons Ashlyn over with one hand and holds the door open with the other.

 

"Good luck, miss." McCree tips his hat to her politely. "Just let me know if ya need any more help with that aim of yours or if you need a shootin' buddy. Oh and thanks for the light!" He waves goodbye to her, following Hanzo.

 

"No problem..." She watches him leave before joining Soldier.

 

He motions her through and she moves quickly as to not keep him waiting. After a short walk, she finds herself outdoors on a fairly large field. From what she could tell it was just a little smaller than a football field. From one end to the other were various obstacles and the thought of her having to complete it made her cringe. She follows him out onto the field and they stopped in front of a short wall, roughly five feet high seeing that she could barely see over it.

 

"So, this is our obstacle course. It's been designed to put you through one of the toughest work-out of your life."

 

_ I can feel my muscles screaming already... _

 

"There are twelve obstacles in total; the low wall, stepping stones, rubble, dodging panel, low rope, ditch, corridor, balancing bridge, window, the apex ladder, and the tunnel at the end... they will help you with confidence out on the field, balance, lower body strength and upper body strength. You never know what kind of situation you're going to be in so this is the best way to prepare you. Now... I'm going to go through the course with you once to show you what to do, but after that, it's all you, newbie. Try to keep up and pay attention."

 

She nods firmly and swallows hard.

 

"As I go through the course, move along the side here to watch." He points to the left of the low wall. "Okay, you ready?"

 

She nods again.

 

Soldier backs up and takes a running start for the low wall. Jumping up, he grips the top pulling himself upwards and brings a leg up to pull himself over. Dropping down to the ground on the other side, he turns and runs for the stepping stones with Ashlyn close behind on the sidelines.

 

The stepping stones were just that, cement blocks varying in height meant to walk across as fast as you could without losing your balance. Soldier did it with ease. Hopping stone to stone without losing his footing before moving on to the next obstacle.

 

Soldier climbs over a low cement wall and ducks under a wooden beam then repeats the steps with another set to replicate having to maneuver through rubble.

 

The next set of walls were taller and tightly grouped together. He raises his arms and side steps through each small gap like a maze moving left and right. In a way, he looks as if he was doing a strange dance of some kind. Ashlyn giggles to herself at the thought as he passes through the last set of walls and jogs toward a rope hanging from a set of wooden beams.

 

Jumping up and gripping the rope tightly, he wraps the rope around one ankle to climb upward. Touching the bar when he reaches the top he drops down to into the sand below. Regaining his footing he presses onward.

 

Ahead was two inclines made in the ground. Running up one, he jumps across barely keeping his balance and nearly falling backward. He throws his weight forward to climb the second mound and drops off of the edge to the ground below.

 

Running forwards he crouches down to pass under a series of metal bars suspended roughly three feet high between to walls spaced around four feet apart. One foot in front of the other he manages to shimmy his way through without having to use the walls for balance or support once. He was making this look so easy... too easy. She was sure that he must have done this a hundred times, but it didn't stop her from thinking of how much she was going to make a fool of herself when it was her turn.

 

Up next, tall balancing beams, he climbs up the thin ramp up onto the skinny planks of wood. Quickly and carefully placing one foot in front of the other, he traces each sharp turn the maze before stepping down equally skinny set of steps. She was certain she would fall on this part. Grace and poise had never been a strong trait in her family... fortunately she wasn't the clumsiest of her sisters but she was a close second.

 

_ I hope I don't end up in a cast today... _

 

Taking a small running start, Soldier hops through a window made in a wall and runs to the next part. This one looks the most intimidating to Ashlyn. Wooden pole staircase stacked in an 'A' shape at least six feet high. She watches as he climbs it without issue and makes his way down the other side like he would a normal staircase he would take in his day to day life.

 

_ Yep, breakin' my neck on that one for sure. _

 

For the last obstacle, Soldier drops down flat onto his chest and crawls under wooden bars for a good six feet before standing and dusting himself off on the other side. Breathing heavily he smiles at her looking rather surprised at himself. 

 

"Ha! Still got it!"

 

He walks over next to her and rests his hand on her shoulder as he tries to catch his breath. 

 

"Ya get all that, kid?"

 

She nods despite the worried expression she had on her face. The run she made alone to keep up with him on the course already had her sweating more than she would normally like.

 

"Good. Cause you're up next. Head back to the start and I'll meet you back here." He motions to the start of the course then pulls his shirt up and wiping his face with the collar.

 

She sighs deeply as she makes her way back to her beginning of what would be her 12 circles of hell. She stands motionless for a moment. Her expression a mix of worry and with no doubt in her mind she would regret waking up this morning.

 

“Okay, kid! Go!”

 

She bounds off with a running start, jumping up and grabbing the first wall. She strains to pull herself up enough to get her elbow on the top. Now with enough leverage, she pushes off with her feet to scramble the rest of the way over. Similar to what a cat looks like as it tries to climb its way out of a tub full of water. Soon dropping down with the same lack of grace to the ground below before moving on to the next obstacle.

 

The stepping stones weren’t that much of a problem. Starting off slow, she finds her pace and manages to get through them without a hitch. Now for the rubble. She climbs over the first wall easily and ducks down under the first beam, but after climbing the second wall she can feel herself becoming winded already. After passing under the second beam she takes a few moments to catch her breath before moving on.

 

As she begins to shimmy through the dodging panels, she holds one arm over her chest as to not bump against the wall with the other in the air. She can’t help but feel foolish on this part. Imagining what Soldier looked like as he ‘danced’ his way through the panels, she must look just as or more ridiculous than he did.

 

Slipping out of the last tight corridor she stops and looks at the low rope. She rubs her hands together and growls under her breath. She had done this once before in school and she was terrible at it. She never did have great upper body strength and she knew she is going to be very sore after this one. Groaning she takes a running start and leaps up to grab the rope. Luckily this rope was shorter than the one she had to climb in school, but she still wasn’t happy about it. She could feel her flesh arm burning as she pulls her weight up the rope. Her feet struggling to grip the rope beneath her to help boost her upward. She strains and reaches upward to touch the wooden beam but it was just out of reach.  _ “One more push…” _ She growls loudly as she pulls up one more time and taps the beam with her fingertips. “Good enough!”

 

She drops down to the ground and pants aloud. She puts her hands behind her head as she tries to catch her breath. A trick she picked up in the times she actually participated in gym class. Holding her arms over her head is supposed to help your lungs gather more air as you breathe. At this point, she would try anything to keep her lungs from burning. Half way through the course now but she already feels like collapsing… Begrudgingly she pushes onward.

 

_ Come on, Ash. You can do this! _

 

On to the ditch! She runs forward and takes a leap off of the first incline. Slipping on the grass she falls forward catching herself on her metal arm. Dusting the blades of grass and dirt from her hand she climbs the second incline and jumps down again with a hard thud, nearly falling back onto her bum. Luckily she catches her balance and heads to the corridor.

 

Ducking down she uses her the walls to brace herself as she shimmies her way through the narrow passage. With every step, she could feel all of the muscles in her legs scream in agony. “Why couldn’t I have been an athlete…? Why did I have to become an artist…?” She whines. Slowly and awkwardly she makes it to the end of the corridor. She stands and wipes sweat from her brow as she stares at the balancing bridge.

 

She grimaces at what would soon be the death of her. Soldier expects her, the exact opposite of balanced to climb through this death maze without breaking her neck. She makes the sign of the cross and looks up to the sky. “Dear Lord. Let me not break my damn neck today. If you could do that small favor for me, that would be great…”

 

She climbs up the ramp to the start of the maze and takes a deep breath before taking her firsts steps. Slowly and carefully she places one foot in front of the other. She holds her arms out to help her balance but she wobbles and flails every so often like a toddler learning their first steps. After what felt like an eternity and a few close calls she finally makes it to the end of the maze. Carefully she steps down each narrow step, sighing happily as she makes it to solid ground.

 

“Okay… that wasn’t that bad…” She lies to herself. The window wasn’t too bad, probably the easiest parts of the course in her opinion. Getting one leg over could be tricky. She grips on the frame of the window and slowly brings one leg up onto the sill. Once sitting on the sill she slides over to the other side and looks onward to the next obstacle.

 

She frowns and looks down at her shoes. She was wearing one of her pairs of shoes that happened to be the worst for traction. She sighs and shrugs as she takes her first few steps up the apex ladder. She climbs up it with her hands out in front of her stepping along with it as to not fall backward. She didn’t trust her shoes to keep enough grip and she was afraid she’d slip through the beams and break a leg or worse as she fell. On reaching the top she could see the next obstacle and Soldier waiting at the end… He was… spraying water on the dirt for the tunnel with a gardening hose. Her mouth falls agape as she watches him.

 

He glances up from his work and gives her a sly grin. “Hope your clothes aren’t dry clean only. You’re playin’ in the mud today, kiddo!” He laughs aloud as he turns the valve off of the hose and tosses it to the side.

 

She scowls at him. “You have got to be kidding me! You’re gonna make me go through the mud!? I didn’t bring a change of clothes!”

 

He shrugs and crosses his arms over his chest. “Welp, gonna have to hose ya down afterward then, won’t I?”

 

She growls loudly to herself as she climbs over the top and shimmies her way down to the bottom of the ladder. She stands in front of the tunnel glaring into the mud before shooting a glare at Soldier.

 

He chuckles. “What’s the matter, kid? Afraid to get dirty?”

 

Her eyes narrow at him before she drops down to her knees and begins to crawl under the first set of bars. The mud had to be at least an inch deep, she positions her metal hand upward as to keep it out of the mud, using only her elbow to push forward. She could feel the moisture seeping through her clothes and into her shoes. The texture and temperature were unpleasant and with every movement she made, the mud would splash up into her face. She purses her lips tightly to keep the mud from getting in her mouth. Reaching the end of the tunnel she pulls herself up and out of the mud. She stood there silent for a moment, wiping mud away from her mouth on any part of her that was clean.

 

“There… ya happy?” She grumbles.

 

He nods. “Good job, newbie. You made it through the course without hurting yourself. Congrats.” He claps with a rather smug look on his face. “Now do it six more times before dinner.”

 

Ashlyn’s eyes widen. “You can’t be serious.”

 

His demeanor quickly changes, giving her a stone cold glare. “Dead. Now do it again.” He points to the start of the course.

 

She grumbles and turns to the start again. “If I die, let my family know I love them.”

 

“Quit being so dramatic…”

 

\----

 

Hours later, Ashlyn moves sluggishly back to the dormitories soaking wet. She had to be hosed down by Soldier before leaving the training grounds so she wouldn’t track mud everywhere. Her shoes making the most dreadful sloshing sounds as she walks. Her clothes cold and wet clung heavily to her. Ashlyn passes the by Angela’s clinic just as she was leaving again. Her eyes widen and she rushes to her side.

 

“Ashlyn, there you are! I didn’t see you at lunch!” She reaches out and puts her hand on her shoulder but immediately pulls it away when she feels the moisture. “You’re soaked to the bone! What in the world…?”

 

“Soldier thought it be funny to make me go through the tunnel with mud in it..” She grumbles. “Had to hose me down before I left… didn’t want to get mud everywhere…” She continues to walk on toward the dorms.

 

Angela’s brows furrow into a worried expression as she follows behind her. “How many times did he make you do the course…?”

 

“In total? Seven…”

 

“And he didn’t let you take a break?!” Angela growls.

 

“Oh, he gave me water when I was thirsty. Let me drink from the hose…” She turns to Angela. “Look… it sucks… but I’m just glad it’s over with… he had his fun picking on the new kid, but I just want to shower, eat, and go to bed…”

 

Angela stomps her foot. “I am giving him a firm talking to!”

 

“Mhm…” Ashlyn nods groggily, waving to her as she turns down the hallway out of site.

 

Angela pulls out her phone and holds it up to her mouth. “Call Jack.” The dial tone begins to ring.

 

\----

 

Finally making it to her room, Ashlyn strips down to nothing leaving a trail of clothes in her wake and climbs into her shower. She slowly scrubs the clumps of mud from her hair, whimpering with every movement. All of her muscles were on fire. Even the slightest twitch was painful. Her feet felt as if she was standing on red hot nails embedding themselves deep into her flesh. If the muscle pains weren’t enough, she was feeling slightly nauseous from the missing lunch. Her stomach twists into knots as it growls loudly up at her, pleading for a meal.

 

After her shower and a slow, painful, change of clothes she makes her way back down the mazes of hallways. Following her nose, she finally makes it to sanctuary. Without another thought, she grabs a plate and piles on a heaping helping of meatballs and finds the closest table. Sitting next to Hana she puts her plate down and then lays her head down next to it. Moaning in pain.

 

Lucio gives her a worried look. “You alright there, Ash?”

 

Ash lazily stabs into a meatball and puts it into her mouth without raising her head from the table. “Nope…” She mumbles through chewing. “These meatballs are fucking amazing though…” She hums. “Victory meatballs…”

 

“You did the obstacle course didn’t you…?” Lucio raises a quizzical brow.

 

“She must have. She looks like me the first time Soldier made  _ me _ do it.” Hana frowns.

 

Ashlyn nods slowly and puts another meatball into her mouth, chewing slowly.

 

“Judging by her wet hair he used the mud too…” Hana cringes. “He can be a cruel old fart when he wants to be.”

 

“Yes he can…” Ashlyn groans. She stares down the far end of the table chewing slowly on another meatball when she notices Junkrat and Roadhog. Junkrat was staring back at her… no… he was  _ glaring _ at her. She raises a brow and waves at him, but his eyes only narrow. He makes a ‘V’ with his fingers making a ‘I’m watching you’ motion. Roadhog letting his head fall into his hand as if he was embarrassed at his friend’s actions.

 

Lucio looks between them with a quizzical expression on his face. “What’s that about?”

 

Ashlyn shrugs resting her chin on the table. “He’s probably still mad at me about this morning…”

 

Hana chuckles. “What did you do?”

 

Ashlyn grins. “I got him to get his flu shot, heheh.”

 

Lucio’s eyes widen and laughs. “No way! How!?”

 

Hana leans in and nudges her. “Did you use your feminine wiles?”

 

Ashlyn’s widens. “Maybe. Haha… told him I’d hold his hand if he was scared to get his shot.” She chuckles. “His face turned so red!”

 

Lucio and Hana bursts into laughter. Lucio holds his stomach for a moment before wiping a tear from his eye. “Oh man! Did he do it?”

 

Ashlyn nods but her smile fades. “It was funny at first, but he was genuinely scared of the needle… I felt really bad for him… so I held his hand while he got his shot…”

 

Lucio smiles widely. “Aw! That’s sweet of you, Ash!” He crosses his arms. “Not very many people are that nice to him for some reason… those who are nice to him he’s doesn’t trust… poor guy.”

 

Hana nods. “Yeah. Lucio was really nice to him at first because well… that’s just how Lucio is… and Junkrat avoided him like the plague…”

 

Ashlyn’s brows furrow. “Why would he avoid you if you were nice…”

 

“Finally talked to him about it at one point… he told me that he didn’t trust me because I was ‘too nice’, so I obviously had plans to either kill him or rob him…” He shakes his head. “It’s strange, man… but I guess everything is in the outback… changes people, ya know?” Lucio frowns. “So I guess don’t take it to heart… he’ll come around.”

 

Ashlyn nods sleepily. “I guess so… it’s sad that he thinks that… maybe I should just talk to him… we hadn’t really got a chance to actually get to know each other… or any of you for that matter, but I feel like I might make him my priority for now since I make him uneasy now…”

 

Hana smiles. “How sweet, Lucio, I think the new girl has a crush on the Trash Rodent.” She fails to hide her giggles behind her hand.

 

Ashlyn lazily glares up at her. She was too tired to be embarrassed at the moment. “Very funny.”

She scoops the last meatball into her mouth and chews it slowly. She peels herself from the tabletop and stands with her plate. “Well, you all have a good evening… I’m going to bed…”

 

“Alright then. Good seein’ ya! Maybe we can play some games tomorrow night… if 76 doesn’t make you go through the course again…” Lucio smiles.

 

Ashlyn returns a smile and nods. “Thanks. That sounds like fun. It’ll be a good way to get to know the two of you too.”

 

Hana chuckles and places her hands on her hips. “The only thing you’ll be getting to know is the sting of defeat!”

 

Ashlyn grins. “Bring it on, girlfriend.”

 

Hana grins back. “Oho! I love a challange!”

 

The three of them share a laugh as Ashlyn waves and puts her plate away in the bin for washing. As she heads toward the exit she’s approached by Roadhog. She offers him a friendly smile and he grunts to her. He stops for a moment and turns to her.

 

“Hey…”

 

Ash looks up at him. “Hello… can I help you with something?”

 

“Just apologizing for the Rat… don’t take anything he does to heart… he’s an idiot.”

 

Ashlyn chuckles. “Oh. Okay… thanks, I guess.”

 

He nods to her and passes her by to head back to the buffet. She shakes her head smiling as she continues onward. She looks over to Junkrat again, still glaring at her over his cup as he takes a sip. She stops for a moment looking back at the exit… she sighs and starts over to Junkrat sitting alone at the table. His expression changes from suspicion to concern in an instant as he watches her closes in. She can see his muscles tense underneath his soot covered skin when she takes in front of him.

 

“What do you want?” Junkrat asks, his eyes narrowing and he pulls his plate closer to himself as if she would snatch it away at any moment.

 

“I wanted to say I’m sorry.” She frowns.

 

He leans back and crosses his arms over his chest looking her over for a moment. “For what…?”

 

“For making you get your shot… I know you didn’t like it and I figured that’s what you’re upset with me.” She rests her hands in her lap as she watches his face.

 

He just stares at her with a quizzical look on his face. He occasionally looks over at Roadhog as if he’s worried she’s going to jump over the table to slit his throat. “I ain’t mad about that…”

 

She sighs in relief. “I’m glad… but…” she frowns again. “Why are you upset me?”

 

Junkrat just stares. He can’t figure out why she even cares about what he thinks. She was probably trying to get him to let his guard down so she could move in for the kill or steal his food. He looks back over at Roadhog, who was still at the buffet, with a pleading expression. He looks back to her and she had not stopped looking at him. Her big green eyes staring up at him with concern. He twitches nervously under her gaze.

 

“I… I ain’t upset…”

 

Her worried expression changes to a more quizzical one. "Then... why do you look at me like I'm going to bite you? I mean... I admit I was picking on you at first this morning, but I genuinely wanted to help you today... I know where you were coming from when you didn’t want to get your shot… it took me a long time to get over my anxiety of needles. Tattoos helped with that… but I wanted to help you. So I’m sorry if you made you feel uncomfortable." She frowns.

 

“Why are you being so nice t’me?” His eyes narrow at her again. “What do you want…?”

 

“Huh?” Her face scrunches, shaking her head. “What do I want? I don’t want anything from you… I was just being nice to you…” She blushes and looks away. “You seemed like a fun guy and I thought we could be friends, but…” She frowns. “If that’s not what you want that’s fine…”

 

He sits in silence, rather dumbfounded by her words. _‘_ _ She wants to be my friend? _ _’_ He thinks to himself as his mouth hangs agape and his brows furrow at her, looking rather foolish.

 

She examines his expression for a moment, unable to pinpoint his exact reaction, but it didn’t look promising. The silence between them was long and awkward. Assuming the worst, she purses her lips and rises for her seat. “Fair enough…” She turns and heads to the exit without another word.

 

Junkrat is left alone at the table, his mouth still agape. Roadhog sits down next to him with his plate full again. He turns to Junkrat and shakes his head, grumbling loudly.

  
“Idiot.”


	7. "A little misunderstanding."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junkrat gets some advice from Uncle Roadhog! Some of Ashlyn's backstory and she meets some more heroes!
> 
> (Thank you all for your kind words and support. Sorry for the delay on this chapter... I wanted to make sure this came out okay, but I'll have you know that I'm working on the next chapter as you're reading this! I'll try to get it to you asap!)

"What did you do, Rat?" Hog sighs.

 

Junkrat scowls and throws his arms up dramatically. "I didn't do nothin'! She just... walked off! I don't even know what the hell happened..." He grumbles and crosses his arms.

 

"Well... what did she want?" Hog lifts up his mask and spoons a helping of potatoes in his mouth.

 

"Came to say sorry 'bout the shot I got this mornin'... told'er I wasn't mad and she kept drillin' me for why I looked like she was going to to bite me or something..." He shrugs.

 

"Well, you were openly glaring at her... what did you want her to think?"

 

"I wanted her t'know I was sayin', _'I'm watching you and stay away from_ me, _ya crazy_ sheila _!'_ , but she just waltzes her cute ass right up to me and says, ' _You seem like a fun guy, I thought we could be friends._ '...." He trails off, grumbling to himself and stares into his plate blushing slightly. "Fun guy... yeah right... prob'ly trying to trick me to get me guard down."

 

"No offense, mate... but you don't get too many of those around here. You know, people wanting to be your friend?" Hog lifts his mask again to take another bite but pauses for a moment. "Wait..." He chuckles. "Did you say she ' _cute ass_ '?"

 

"W-what?" Junkrat stammers and raises a brow.

 

"You said, and I quote, ' _her cute ass_ '..." He tilts his head rather judgingly.

 

"I did?" Junkrat's eyes dart around the room as if he was searching for his exact words. When his memory finally catches up to him, his ears and cheeks flush. " **N-nope**! Didn't say that..." he lied.

 

Roadhog laughs gruffly. "Did too, Rat!"

 

"Did not!" He grumbles. "Even if I did, doesn't mean I ever looked at'er ass!"

 

"So... you admit you stared at her ass?" He chuckles.

 

"Ye- **NO**! I meant no! You tricked me, ya' bastard!" His face beams deep red before Hogs giant hand grabs hold of his throat silencing him.

 

"You're making a _scene_." He growls. "Now..." He releases his grasp. "What did you say to make her leave?"

 

Junkrat rubs his throat and coughs lightly. "I didn't say nothin'..."

 

"You didn't say a word?"

 

Junkrat nods.

 

"Well, maybe that's why she left..." He sighs deeply, you could almost hear his eyes roll behind his mask.

 

Junkrat's eyes narrow and he cocks his head. "What the hell is that 'spose to mean?"

 

Roadhog lets out another exasperated sigh. "Look... ya got a good thing goin' here." He spoons himself another helping under his mask. "We didn't have chances to let our guards down before... you know... live a normal life. Make new friends... or any friends for that matter." He pauses, looks over Junkrat's face for any sort of reaction but is only met with another confused expression that Junkrat usually wore when he spoke to him. "What I'm saying is... we have a chance to start a new life for ourselves... start with a clean slate... don't you think it would be nice to have someone _else_ to hang out with for once... other than _me_?"

 

Junkrat stares at him for a moment then he raises a brow to the larger man. "This is the most you've talked t'me in months, Roadie... you must be desperate."

 

Roadhog sits quietly for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yes."

 

Junkrat gasps and grabs at his chest dramatically. " _Well then!_ " He huffs and turns up his nose at him. "That's it! I want a divorce!"

 

"Good." Roadhog snorts.

 

"Fine then, ya bastard..." He leans onto his elbow and pokes out his tongue out at him childishly, but soon frowns. "Not like it'll be much of a clean slate... Everyone already knows what we did and already think they know who or what we are..." He pushes away his plate and rests his chin on the table.

 

"That Ashlyn girl doesn't..." Hog leans his weight on his elbow.

 

"For now." Junkrat scoffs. "Only takes one've them to open their mouth to'er and _BAM_!" He snaps his fingers and sighs. "She'll change her mind in a second. They always do."

 

Hog grumbles and shakes his head. "Well, she will if you keep being an insensitive prick to her..."

 

"I ain't insensitive! Women are just _TOO_ sensitive..."

 

Roadhog glares down at him menacingly as a low grumble bellows from his mask.

 

"Okay! Sheesh... just a joke..." Junkrat lets out a small sigh and then sits up. "Well, what do I do then, if you're so smart?"

 

\----

Ashlyn whimpers as she limps down the empty halls, her feet aching with every step. She runs her right hand along the wall as to brace herself more.

 

_ I'm definitely going to have to get some better shoes if to wear for next time... _

 

Just as she turns the corner she bumps into someone abruptly, nearly knocking them both backward. A tiny yelp, sort of like a mouse's squeak, came from behind the book that was covering their face.

 

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Mei fumbles with the book as she tries to adjust her glasses that were askew on her face.

 

Ashlyn catches the book as it nearly slips from her grasp. "No, no, no! Don't be! I should have been watching where I was going..." She places Mei's back into her hands.

 

"I could say the same." Mei giggles nervously. "I really shouldn't walk and read at the same time... it's a terrible habit of mine." She checks Ashlyn over and gives her a concerned frown. "You weren't injured, were you? You look as if you're in pain..."

 

"Oh, that..." Ash chuckles and leans against the wall, groaning softly. "76 put me through the course today is all. Not use to all the exercise."

 

Mei frowns. "Oh, that's no fun. I know how you feel about that. Haha!"

 

"No, it sure wasn't,” she says, shaking her head ruefully as the two of them laugh. "I was just heading to bed actually.... it's been a long day." Ashlyn rolls her right shoulder and it pops loudly. 

 

Mei winces at the sound. "Oh dear... I could ask Zarya if she would help you with some stretching techniques before doing the course again. She lectures me all the time about stretching before doing any rigorous activity like that."

 

Ashlyn sighs happily. "That would be wonderful... thank you both for being so kind to me." She smiles pleasantly.

 

Mei nods and smiles back. "Of course! I do hope that everyone is treating you well."

 

Ash nods and grins. "Oh yes! Everyone's been really welcoming." She shrinks a little and looks away. "Well, at least I thought everyone was..."

 

Mei frowns. "The _junkers?_ "

 

Ashlyn sighs. "Roadhog doesn't say much, but he's been nothing but polite to me... I thought Junkrat was okay with me until today... I can't wrap my head around him..."

 

"Be careful around them. They may seem nice, but they're both dangerous... _very_ dangerous." Mei's voice was stern.

 

Ashlyn shrugs. "Well... most Junkers are, right? They're supposed to be tough."

 

"No,” Mei hisses. "I said  _ dangerous _ . They're killers. Don't trust them."

 

Ashlyn pauses for a moment and her brows knit as she watches Mei. She had never seen this side of her before. She always came off so warm and inviting, but as she stands before her now, she was firm and cold.

 

"Don't you know who they are? Haven't you heard what they've done...?" Mei's tiny hands ball into fists when Ashlyn shakes her head. "The two of them went on a global crime spree. Robbing innocent people, taking anything they wanted. Blowing up anyone or anything that was in their way. They even killed people! And for what? Money? Infamy?" Her brows furrow and she clenches her jaw. "Those men should be rotting in a jail cell for what they've done... Why Winston chose to bring them here instead of letting those...  _ monsters _ stay here is beyond me..."

 

Ashlyn stands in silence before her. The strong and hateful words coming from a woman who just yesterday she had thought couldn't have a single mean bone in her body saying such strong words about these men baffles her completely.

 

"You obviously have a set opinion about them... but have you tried to get to know them at all?" Ash asked sheepishly.

 

Mei scoffs softly. "Get to know them? What more is there to know...? They're no good bullies and they should be in jail right now."

 

Ashlyn frowns and looks at the floor. "In that case... I shouldn't be here either, you know..." Ashlyn sits quietly for a moment before she continues. "A few of those protesters didn't make it out of that fire...."

 

Mei gasps softly as she snaps back from her rant. Her usual sincerity soon coming back to her face.

 

Ashlyn scoffs softly before expression turns to a sad and shameful frown. "The sad part is it didn't start as an accident... yes, it got out of hand, but the fire was intentional." She paused. "And people died because of my carelessness, but you all saw something in me. Just as Winston saw something in them."

 

Ashlyn waits for a moment for a reply but it never came. Mei stands quietly with her hand slightly over her mouth unable to say a word. Ashlyn, though she could see tears welling in her eyes.

 

"Monsters aren't born, Mei. They're made." Ashlyn slowly walks past her placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Monsters or not... everyone deserves a second chance in life. This is what Overwatch is, right? A chance to make yourself a better person?"

 

Mei's brows knit and her lip quivers.

 

"So... I guess what I'm trying to say is... you can't always judge a book by their cover..." Ashlyn offers a small smile before starting down the hallway. "Tell Zarya I said hello..." She limps onward, leaving Mei alone in the long quiet hall.

 

\----

 

 

Back in her room again, Ashlyn flops down onto her bed with a loud 'oof'. She pulls a pillow from the head of the bed, stuffing it under her head as she curls up into a ball on top of her covers grumbling loudly. _"What a fucking day..."_

 

Despite her best efforts and how exhausted she was, she still couldn't fall asleep. She still couldn't figure out why all of a sudden, Junkrat, the same person who couldn't be paid to leave her alone just the day before, all of a sudden not trust her as far as she could throw her. Even trying to think of why just makes her brain hurt more. She buries her face into her pillow.

 

_ Why do I care so much anyway? I mean, it's not like you can expect everyone to like you here... He's just a guy, right? Guys are weird. _

 

She sighs heavily and tries to force herself to sleep, closing her eyes tightly. Just then there was a loud knock at the door. 

 

"Wonder who that could be..."

 

As the door opens she's met with something being shoved in her face. She Jumps back, letting out a yelp, but soon sees it's a small plate with a slice of pie on top. She tilts her head as to look past it to see Junkrat holding it out from his body. He chews on his lip, brows knitting as he glares down the hallway.

 

"Um... hey there..." She chuckles softly and leans against the doorframe. "What's this for?"

 

"Roadie says to say I'm sorry for being a dick and to give you this pie as a peace offering..." He bounces his food anxiously and looks at her out of the corner of his eye.

 

She smiles and takes the plate from him. "Thank you." She pauses for a moment before stepping to the side ushering him in. "Do.. you wanna come in?"

 

His eyes dart to the end of the hall nervously and his cheeks turn pink. "U-um. What?"

 

"You know... to talk?" She shrugs offering him a reassuring smile.

 

"Uuuuuh..." He looks down the hallway and rubs his arm anxiously. "D-do I want to come in and talk?" He asks as if to someone out of view.

 

Ashlyn looks at him curiously before poking her head out to look for whoever he was talking to. Down the hall she sees Roadhog leaning out of his own room. Ashlyn stifles a laugh when he gives the two of them a thumbs up and disappears into his quarters.

 

"Um.." Junkrat clears his throat and rocks on his heel. "I guess uh... yeah. I want to come in..."

 

She chuckles and beckons him in. "Well, come on, then." She walks into her room, making her way to her bed. She carefully climbs in as to not drop the pie resting her back against the wall and crosses her legs, letting her feet dangle off the edge.

 

He steps into her room cautiously looking around at the different photos and other trinkets. He stands awkwardly rocking back and forth on his heel watching her.

 

She shakes her head and pats the spot next to her. "Well, you gonna help me eat this pie, or what?"

 

He tilts his head at her like a confused puppy, making her giggle. "What? No. It's your pie."

 

"You're absolutely right. It's my pie and I say you're helping me eat it. " She smiles. "I'm not that hungry and it would be a shame if it went to waste after you went through all that trouble to bring it here." She pats the spot next to her again. "Now, come over here, ya goofball. I'm not going to bite you."

 

His eyes narrow for a moment before slowly making his way over to the bed. He rather awkwardly crawls up beside her, the joint of his prosthetic leg getting caught in the fabric of her comforter. He grumbles as he shakes it free and flops down on his behind leaning against the wall. "I ain't no goofball..."

 

She stifles a laugh. "Sorry..." She takes a bite of the pie and then hands the fork and plate over to him.

 

He examines the fork. "You ain't worried about germs or nothin'?"

 

"Nope. Now eat." She places the plate and fork in his hands. "It's really good."

 

He scoops up a fork full and raises it to his mouth, but hesitates and looks over at her wearily.

 

She chuckles and rolls her eyes. "Come on.... it's not poisoned. Do you think I would have eaten some if it was?"

 

He gives her a rather unconvinced look. "Maybe you have the antidote."

 

She scoffs. "Oh of course, and after I take you out I can go on to finish my master plans for taking over the world! _Muwhahaha!_ " She exclaims mockingly before shooting him a smirk.

 

"You're a weird sheila." He takes a slow bite without breaking eye contact.

 

"Yes. Yes, I am." She smiled proudly and laughs. "So..." She pulls her legs up to her chest and rests her head in her hand. "Tell me about yourself..."

 

Junkrat grins. "You first."

 

"Why should I go first?" She chuckles.

 

He sits up straight trying to make himself look as proud as he can. "Well, if you tell me about yourself I may feel inclined to do the same."

 

She rolls her eyes giving him a half smile. "Okay then... what do you want to know?"

 

His brows furrow and he taps his chin for a moment. "Let me see....hmmm..." He snaps his fingers and turns to her. "Aha! Alrighty, how does an artist become an arsonist?"

 

She half frowns. "Oh... um... it's kind of a, ugh, I dunno..." She pauses for a moment and lets out a heavy sigh. "Well, I grew up in that town you guys found me in. It use to be so quiet... free from all the omnic crisis brought, I felt like my little corner of the world was perfect. Free from all violence." She crosses her arms over her knees as Junkrat listens quietly. "One day, about three years ago, we had our first murder in over 10 years. The woman murdered was a sweet old woman named Agnes. She was a long-time friend of my family... she was more like a grandmother to me... she was because she wouldn't give up her purse to a mugger... he shot her. Bastard..." She hissed.

 

Junkrat grimaces. "Who kills a little old lady? Honestly... I've done some fucked up shit in my life, but killin' an old lady for her purse is just is just not okay." He shakes his head firmly making an _'x'_ with his arms. "No go, mate. Fucked. Up."

 

"They never did catch him... there were witnesses and a 3D composite made of his description and everything. With all the technology we have, we still couldn't catch that piece of shit. It had just been so long since something like that had happened in my hometown, the cops didn't even know what to do... idiots." She stared into the adjacent wall. "She didn't have any other family so I was the only one who fought for her... everyone else just gave up. Everyone else was too scared to even go out at night... to be honest..." She shrugs. "I was scared to. So I built this to protect myself..." She holds out her left arm. "I had some basic knowledge of mechanics from what I had learned from my dad and what I managed to teach myself."

 

Junkrat places the pie carefully on the bed next to him and takes her arm to look it over. "You build the whole thing?"

 

She laughs. "Oh, no!  It's a Vishkar I model. I'm not nearly that skilled... I'm still quite the novice."

 

He grins and pokes around at the valve as she opens and closes it for him. "Not bad for a novice." He chuckles.

 

She blushes. "Thanks.."

 

"So uh, how long it take ya?"

 

"Two years." She shrugs. "Took a long time to save up for the most important parts and I salvaged the rest. That and the amount of time it took to complete the damn thing with only one arm was taxing as all hell."

 

"Oh, I hear ya on that one." He nods and taps the panel on her forearm. "What's in there?"

 

"Take a look..." She pops it off to reveal the inside. She watches as his eyes light up like a child looking at a new toy. She can't help by smile as his fingers wiggle eagerly to examine it.

 

His brows knit and he giggles under his breath when he finds something that interests him as he prods around. "I take it the fuel goes here, aye?"

 

"Mhm." she nods.

 

"So... I have to ask." He closes the panel and looks at her with a raised brow. "Why fire?"

 

She laughs for a moment as she pulls her arm back into herself. "Who'd fuck with a chick with a flamethrower for an arm?" She smirks.

 

"Hahaha! Good point!" He cackles. "Very effective!" He grins giving her an 'ok' sign with his thumb and forefinger.

 

"Damn right it is." She giggles.

 

"So... what made ya set the fires the other day? You said it was a riot right?" He taps the joint of peg leg with his mechanical fingers making little clinking noises grinning widely. "Come on... what makes a sheila burn nearly three blocks of a shopping district, eh?" He stares at her eagerly as he takes another bite of pie.

 

"Well..." She sighs heavily. "That riot broke out right down the street from where I work... I had just locked up and was walking to my car when I heard the commotion... I went to check it out and... _there he was_." She clenched her hands into fists. "I had memorized his face for so long just in case he was ever stupid enough to come back... I knew it was him. I recognized his _stupid_ face tattoo... a cobra and flames... stupid design... I'd never forget it." She growls. "When I saw him... something in me just... snapped."

 

Junkrat watches her intently, taking another bite of pie. "So what'cha do?"

 

"I had just finished my mod and hadn't got a chance to try it out... so... I tried it out..." She gave him a tight smile. "On him."

 

Junkrat grins widely. "You didn't..."

 

"Yup. I pulled one of my fuel cartridges out of my back and I threw it against his head.... then I lit that fucker up like the Fourth of July." She taps her fingers together nervously. "I didn't even think twice. And I just... watched... I couldn't look away..." She stared blankly at the floor. "After that it get's kinda fuzzy... next thing I know I'm staring at a wall of fire... I will admit though." She smiles. "Despite my upbringing... and my better judgment... I couldn't help but think about how fucking gorgeous it was."

 

Junkrat chuckles and grins widely. " _Bloody Oath..._ "

 

"A few others rioters got caught in the fire and died..." She frowned. "I do feel bad about that... but... I'm not ashamed that I killed that man. He deserved worse."

 

"Too right!" He pats her on the back smiling ear to ear. "You know! You're fuckin' alright, Firebug! Any sheila who'd melt the face off a fuckin' granny killa is alright in my book!"

 

"Thanks." She grins. "You gonna tell me about yourself now?"

 

He rolls his eyes. "If I must." He sighed dramatically.

 

She giggles under her breath.

 

"Not really much to tell though. Maybe kind of boring.." He frowns and picks at the flaking paint on his arm. "Especially if someone's already told you who me and Hog are already..." He looks over at her out of the corner of his eye waiting for her reaction.

 

She nods slowly. "As a matter of fact, someone has already taken the liberty of telling me who you and Roadhog are."

 

His brows furrow and his head lowers in disappointment. "But... you still invited me in...?"

 

"Mhm." She smiles.

 

"And... you don't.... care?" He turns to her with a hopeful look on his face.

 

"I figured if you're as bad as Mei paints you two to be, you would have already hurt me or worse." She shrugs. 

 

He grumbles loudly. "I figured it would be Mei..."

 

"Well... besides all the  the whole glaring at me thing and the relentless flirting you did yesterday, you and Roadhog have been very nice to me."

 

He coughs and blushes. "I didn't do it that much..."

 

She smiles and nudges him gently. "Despite what she says, I believe everyone is allowed to have a second chance. So I'd like to get to know you and Roadhog before I decide on my opinion of you."

 

A sincere smile grows on his face. "That's... really nice of ya, Firebug... Thanks..."

 

"I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Even Junkers..." She smiles sweetly. "So... are you going to tell me about yourself now?"

 

He clears his throat and adjusts himself. "Oh yeah! Of course! Umm... well... I uh... I grew up in the Outback in a place called Junkertown... I was just a little ankle biter when the big bang went off... don't even remember a time when the Outback wasn't a heapin' pile of irradiated shit so wasn't really anything to miss... it was just the way things were." He shrugs.

 

"They did teach us in school what happened in Australia, but not about the people who still lived there..." She frowned.

 

"Of course they wouldn't." He scoffs. "The government likes to pretend we don't exist. Fuckin' suits..." He growls. "Leavin' people out there to starve to death, kill each other, or die from radiation... very few make it by being civil or kind... you steal what you need to survive from folks who can go without and kill anyone who tries to kill you first. Just a Junker way of life."

 

"I'm sorry..." She says softly.

 

"Eh, don't be. You don't really know any different, ya know?" He grumbles and scratches his head. "That's why I... treated ya the way I did." He frowns. "I ain't used to people bein' nice... if you were nice back in Oz, usually meant you were trying to get something you wanted or kill someone by getting past their defenses... people would use kids to do that a lot... you feel bad for the little ones but they rob ya blind or have someone waitin' to slit your throat."

 

"Jesus..." She whispers.

 

"That's why I hired Roadhog. I had some folks after me after I found some pretty valuable omnium junk. Folks were ready to kill me for it." He grins. "I hired old Roadie for protection, ya know. Who'd fuck with that guy, am I right?" He chuckles.

 

"Very true." She nods.

 

"But Roadie and me...we wanted to do something huge! So we decided we'd get out of Oz and take on the world!" He smiles widely. "Goin' legit!"

 

"Oh, so this is the crime spree Mei was talking about right?" She offers a half smile.

 

He shrugs. "Eh, she's not wrong about that part... but we kill nobody who didn't try to kill us first and we never hurt any kids, women, or old folks. We still have morals you know." He huffs. "We ain't the monsters she says we are."

 

She nods. "I believe you."

 

He turns to her eyes wide. "You do?"

 

"Mhm." She smiles.

 

He returns a smile. "Wanna hear the best part?"

 

She nods eagerly.

 

"Me and Roadie nicked the crown jewels in London!" He cackles loudly.

 

"You did not!" Her jaw drops in awe.

 

"Sure as hell did!" He puffs out his chest proudly.

 

Ash's eyes widen and her jaw drops in awe. "No way!" She laughs. "How!? What do you even need with the crown jewels anyway?"

 

"Nothin'... We took'em just to prove we could! Heh...Took some pictures with 'em and then gave'em to a homeless kid." He grins.

 

She holds her chest. "Awwww! That's so sweet..." She giggles.

 

He nods. "Yeah... suppose it was..." He scratches his head. "Just after that old 76 and Winston found us while we were hiding out in Italy... but uh... that's pretty much it.." He chuckles... told'ya it was short."

 

She rests her head on her arms and gives him a sincere soft smile. "That's okay, the fact that you told me anything at all is nice. I appreciate you being open with me."

 

He swallows hard and he blushes trying to look anywhere but into her green eyes. "Same to you." He coughs slightly and looks down at the now empty plate. "Oops.." He frowns. "Sorry I ate all your pie."

 

She takes the plate and laughs. "Don't worry. I won't tell Roadhog."

 

"Thanks, mate. "He sighs in relief.

 

Ashlyn covers her mouth politely as yawns deeply. She pulls her legs up close to her chest, folding her arms on her knees. She nuzzles her head into her arms humming softly, slowly blinking.

 

Junkrat looks her over giving her what she could almost think is look of concern. "You look zonked."

 

Ashlyn's eyes narrow in confusion and gives him a small smile. "Zonked?"

 

Junkrat rolls his eyes and climbs off of the bed. "What I mean is, ya look tired." He starts for the door. "You're prob'ly sick of me anyways, so I'll get out of your hair."

 

She sits up. "W-wait..."

 

Looks over his shoulder at her with a raised brow. "Yeah?"

 

She tucks her hair behind her ear. "Does this mean we're okay now...? No more glaring at me from across the room?" She laughs sheepishly.

 

He smiles widely and turns to face her again placing his hands on his hips. "I suppose so!"

 

Ashlyn offers him a sleepy smile and stands. She makes her way over to him and holds out her hand. "So... friends?"

 

He looks at her hand for a moment then grasps it firmly shaking it with face-splitting grin. "Sure!"

 

"That's good!" Ash smile fades for a moment giving him a stern look. "Does this mean you're gonna start flirting with me again?"

 

Junkrat cackles loudly before giving her a toothy grin. "Maybe." 

 

She rolls her eyes. "I guess that's better than you hating my guts."

 

"I never hated your guts... just... didn't trust ya..." He chuckles and rustles her hair playfully. "Now that we're pals I can tease ya all I want!" He cackles aloud again when she pushes his hand away to fix her hair. He gives her a two finger salute and the door opens behind him and he backs away. "Nighty night, Firebug! Ta-ta!" He says in a sing-songy tone and waves with his fingers before the door shuts in front of him.

 

"What a dork." She shakes her head smiling. "He's not a bad guy after all... strange for sure, but not bad..." Making her way back to her bed, she turns off the lights and flops down hard onto the matress curling up in the blankets half-heartedly. Just as she shuts her eyes, she passes out hard.

 

\----

 

Junkrat chuckles to himself as he turns to his own room, but someone down the hall catches his eye. Roadhog poking his head out of his room again beckons Junkrat to him. Junkrat obliges and hobbles down the hall with a huge grin on his face. Judging by his expression it went well, but Roadhog's curiosity got the better of him, which rarely happened.

 

"So, how'd it go?" He mutters softly, nearly whispering just in case Ashlyn was listening.

 

"Went pretty good I'd say!" Junkrat bellows. "She ate all the pie if that's what'cher askin'."

 

"Sssh!" Roadhog hushes Junkrat and pulls him into his room. "Now.. tell me what happened."

 

Junkrat scrambling from his grasp grins and perks up. "Nosey today aren't we?"

 

Roadhog grumbles, crossing his arms he glares through his mask at the lanky man.

 

Junkrat holds his arms up defensively. "Alright, Hoggy..." He leans against the wall with a smirk on his face. "What'cha wanna know?"

 

\----

 

THE NEXT MORNING

 

Everyone is having breakfast as usual. Ashlyn is sitting with Hana and Lucio.

 

“So, saw you talkin’ to Junkrat yesterday. Did you get things sorted out?” Lucio asks just as Junkrat sits down abruptly next to Ashlyn.

 

“Mornin’!” Junkrat exclaims with a wide grin on his face. “Mornin’ there, Firebug.” He leans in to wink at Ashlyn before taking a large bite of his breakfast.

 

Roadhog was sitting at the far end of the table as he normally does, practically staring at Junkrat. He lets out a deep sigh and pulls out a book from his pocket and begins to snack off of his breakfast. His mask shifts as little wrinkles appear on the sides of his face. A possible smile for the newly gained peace and quiet.

 

Rolling her eyes she smiles. “Good morning…”

 

Lucio and hana look at one another and smile. “I take that as a yes.”

 

“Worried we weren’t gettin’ along as well as you thought, eh?” Junkrat chuckles. “I have you know that little Firebug and I are pals now! Ain’t that right, Firebug?” He pats her rather firmly on the shoulder.

 

Ash nods. “Mhm..” She mumbles with a mouth full of her breakfast covering her mouth politely and swallows. “Just a bit of a misunderstanding, but we’ve got it sorted out…” She smiles.

 

“Yup!” Junkrat grins and takes another large and rather messy bite of food. Some dribbling down his chin.

 

A large hand gently grasps Ash’s shoulder, startling her briefly. Whipping around she is face to face with Winston.

 

“Oh! I’m sorry, Ashlyn! I didn’t mean to scare you!”

 

She spins around in her seat facing him directly. “That’s alright..”

 

“Ah.” He sighs. “That’s good. Anyway, I have some news!” He smiles widely. “Some of the others are returning in an hour! Unfortunately, a small few of them are still stationed elsewhere for now until further notice, but you’ll be meeting quite a few of them today!”

 

Ash perks up and smiles. “Oh, really? Can’t wait!”

“Good to hear! We’ll be meeting in the hangar later. See you after breakfast!” Winston smiles and pats her gently on the back. Waving to the others he makes his leave.

 

Junkrat scowls and rolls his eyes. “Yippee, the bots are coming back.”

 

Ashlyn turns back to Junkrat with a raised brow. “Bots?”

 

“He means Bastion and Zenyatta...” Lucio sighs deeply resting his head in his hand.

 

“Are they an omnics?” She turns to the back around in her seat to face them. She looks Junkrat over and his face was full of contempt. If she didn’t know any better it would be the face of disgust. From what they taught in school, all of the Australian outback was destroyed and irradiated from the Omnium explosion… so Junkrat would hate an omnic.

 

“Yes…” Junkrat groans.

 

Lucio nods. “Bastion’s one of those tank omnics from the crisis. Something happened to him years ago, but he just suddenly didn’t want to kill humans anymore and Zenyatta’s a Shambali monk.”

 

“Bastion even has a pet bird!” Hana giggles.

 

“It’s kinda like his therapy pet… Keeps him calm and he just loves takin’ care of that little thing.” Lucio’s smile fades when he notices Junkrat’s scowl still present on his face, even as he eats.

 

“A pet bird?” Ashlyn grins. “That’s… really adorable actually!”

 

Junkrat gags dramatically. “Ain’t nothin’ cute about that scrap heap and that Zenyatta… it’s all ‘peace and tranquility’ but I can see past that load’a shit…”

 

Ash lets out a little sigh and nudges him. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that. Worked for you didn’t it?” She smiles.

 

He grumbles loudly and shoving his face with more food, muttering under his breath as he chews.

 

“Don’t be such a grump.” Ash chuckles.

 

“I ain’t a grump. I just don’t understand how you all can just trust a walking trash can!Those bots could turn on us in any second, but you all wanna just buddy up with it.” He growls.

 

Lucio and Hana just sigh. Judging by their expressions, Junkrat likes to express his feelings about their omnic teammate often and felt very strongly about it.

 

Ash leans over to him giving him a sincere smile. “Look… it’s okay. I get it… but in a way… omnics and humans aren’t that different in that aspect.”

 

“What’cha mean?” Junkrat narrows his eyes at her.

 

“Any human can turn on you in a blink of an eye without warning… and from what I’ve seen, omnics are capable of feelings as much as any human…” She looks over his face and he seems to look as if he was getting more upset. His flesh fist clenching tightly.

 

“Don’t bother, Ash.” Lucio sighs.

 

“Hey…” Ash frowns and lays her hand on top of his gently.

 

He jumps at her touch, eyes widening.

 

Lucio and Hana look between the two and then to each other.

 

“I’m not trying to get you to change the way you think and I’m sorry…” She adds with a soft tone offering a small smile. “All I’m saying is, like you, I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt… human or omnic. Okay?” She pats his hand softly and continues her breakfast.

 

Junkrat stares at her for moment slowly pulling his hand away. His cheeks flush when he sees Hana and Lucio looking at him and trying to hide their smiles. “S-sure… whatever…” He grumbles. “But don’t come cryin’ to me when they start shootin’ up the place!”

 

Ash smiles. “Deal.”

 

\----

 

Later as planned, Ashlyn meets up with Winston outside just as the team’s ship lands.

 

“Are you ready?” Winston smiles to her as the door hisses open.

 

Ashlyn chuckles.“As I’ll ever be...”

 

A large grey haired man stands with his hands on his hips as the door comes to a halt when it touches the ground. With a large smile on his face he takes a long deep breath in and exhales cheerfully. “AH! Good to be back, eh Ana?”

 

He steps to the side when a woman who was nearly half his size with a long silver braid draped over her shoulder and an eye patch joining him in the doorframe. She smiles at him and nods as he bows to her offering a hand.

 

“Thank you, Reinhardt. You’re such a gentleman.” She giggles. Her voice was warm and comforting, like a mother’s voice.

 

“Only the best for you, dear.” He says in a silvery tone as the two of them make climb down.

 

“Oh for cryin’ out loud!”

 

The older woman rolls her eyes at the voice blaring behind them. A very petite man bearing a fairly large beard and what looks to be two smokestacks on his back pushes between them grumbling to himself. He waves his hand and his strange hook-shaped mechanical arm in a displeasing manner.

 

“Enough of the mushy stuff, will ya!? The two of ya have been actin’ like a couple of schoolkids since we took off! Phu!” He shakes his head firmly and strolls up to Ashlyn. “I take it you’re the new recruit?” He asks gruffly.

 

Ashlyn nods when Winston pats her back.

 

“You’re correct, Torbjorn.” Winston moves to the side as the two other join Torbjorn’s side. “Everyone, this is Ashlyn Elliot. Ashlyn-” Winston motions to the Torbjorn. “This is our chief engineer, Torbjorn Lindholm.”

 

Torbjorn extends his hand and Ashlyn shakes it. “Nice to meetcha…” He sighs heavily. “There’s a lot of equipment needin’ to be unloaded, so if ya pardon my rudeness…”

 

Ashlyn nods. “Of course! Nice to meet you, sir.”

 

Torbjorn laughs and walks off to the ship. “Callin’ me ‘sir’... I’m gonna like this kid.”

 

“Hello, dear.” The older woman approaches her and extends a hand, shaking Ashlyn’s gently. “Nice to meet you, I’m Ana Amari. We’re so glad to have you on the team.”

 

Ashlyn smiles nervously. “T-the Ana Amari? W-wow… Thank you, ma’am… I just hope I don’t let any of you down… I mean… Overwatch, heh, it’s a lot to live up to.”

 

Ana smiles sweetly. “With all of us to train you, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

 

“Yes!” The larger man bellows and rests his hand firmly on Ashlyn’s shoulder, giving her a large warm smile. “It will be hard work, but I have faith in your, young lady!”

 

“And this is Reinhardt Wilhelm. He and Ana are two of our founding members.” Winston adds.

 

Ashlyn’s eyes widen and gasps. After a closer inspection of his face she recognizes him without a doubt. “My dad had your poster in his garage! The one with your long rocker hair!” She giggles. “My dad had his hair that long for years, you were his idol. He would have loved to meet you, sir. It’s an honor.”

 

A proud smile grows on his face. “Haha! I am flattered, my dear! I will have to sign a poster for him!”

 

She chuckles sheepishly and her smile fades. “He would have loved that, sir, but he’s no longer with us.”

 

Ana and Winston frown, turning their gaze to the ground. Reinhardt grin shrinks to a frown and bows his head slightly, pulling her in for a hug. “I… I’m sorry, dear…”   
  


Ashlyn shakes her head patting him reassuringly. “It’s alright. You wouldn’t have known…” She pulls back gives him a small smile. “I’ll be sure to make all of you and my father proud.”

 

Reinhardt nods. “With that, I have no doubt.”

 

Heavy footsteps soon drown out any conversation as a large automaton approaches the group. Ashlyn looks up to it in awe, it’s head tilts to the side making soft coo-like beeps as a small bird lands on its shoulder.

 

She grins. “This must be Bastion.”

 

“Bwoo bwooo?” His head tilts again in the opposite direction.

 

_ He’s like a puppy robot! _

 

“I see some of the others told you about him.” Winston chuckles. “Bastion, this is Ashlyn.”

 

Bastion looks Winston for a moment then back to Ashlyn, giving her a very robotic wave. “Bweep bweep!”

 

Ashlyn can’t help but smile. “Nice to meet you, Bastion. Hana was right, you do have a pet bird.”

 

Bastion’s head turns to his shoulder looking down at his feathered companion. He brings a hand slowly up to it and the tiny bird jumps to it, perching and tweeting happily. Bastion extends his arm and holds his bird out to her. “Bwee boo bwee?”

 

“We’ve just been calling her  Ganymede.” Ana adds.

 

Ashlyn gives Ganymede a small wave. “Hello, Ganymede. Who’s a pretty bird?” She giggles.

Bastion chortles and the Ganymede flies back up to Bastions shoulder and then moves to the top of his head. Torbjorn pushing a large container on wheels whistles to get Bastion’s attention.

 

“Mind helping me out, Bastion?” He beckons.

 

Bastion beeps happily as he joins Torbjorn’s side, taking his position and begins to push the container. “Bweep!” He chirps and waves to Ashlyn again as the two of them venture further into the hangar.

 

“Is it strange that I find Bastion a little adorable?” Ashlyn smirks.

 

“There have been worse opinions of him.” Ana chuckles. “It was good to meet you, Ashlyn, but I think I’m overdue for a good shower and a cup of tea. You should join me sometime.” She bids farewell to Ashlyn and Winston and she and Reinhardt take their leave.

 

“Likewise! Have a good evening!” Ashlyn waves and turns back to Winston. “Is that everyone?”

 

Winston scratches his chin. “There should have been one more. Genji?!” He calls out. “Where are you?”

 

“One moment!” A voice calls from inside of the ship. 

 

Moments later what appears to be another omnic emerges from the cabin door. She could have sworn they only mentioned two omnics, not that she had any complaints, but it couldn’t be Zenyatta. Winston called for a ‘Genji’, so could this man be in a suit of some kind? “I was just checking to make sure everything was accounted for. My apologies.”

 

The suited man approaches and bows politely. “ Hajimemashite . Nice to meet you. My name is Genji Shimada.”

 

She bows in return. “My name’s Ashlyn… nice to meet you Genji.” She pauses for a moment. “Shimada… you wouldn’t happen to be related to Hanzo, would you? If you don’t mind me asking…”

 

“Yes. Hanzo is my brother.”

 

“I see. That’s kind of nice... working with you brother, I mean...” She smiles and laughs sheepishly.

 

Genji lets out a small chuckle. “Sometimes, but we are still siblings and we don’t always get along.”

 

She nods. “I know that all too well…”

 

“Aha. A sibling too I see. Then you must know how taxing it is at times… do not get me wrong. I love my brother, but he lacks patience at times and it is usually with me.” He laughs. “But my master, Zenyatta always says, ‘Forgive and forget.’, and I try to live by that, especially with my brother.”

 

Ashlyn smiles and nods in agreement.

 

Genji looks to Winston. “Winston, would you like me to join you for debriefing? I’m sure the others would like to rest first, and I don’t mind.”

 

“That’s nice of you, Genji.” Winston turns to Ashlyn. “Now that you’re all acquainted, you’re free to go for now. Genji and I have lots of paperwork to do. I’ll see you around.” Winston waves goodbye as the two of them head off, leaving Ashlyn standing in the empty hangar.


	8. "It was an accident."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junkrat and Ashlyn get some more quality time and getting to know each other. Not to mention the sexual tension brewing between them!
> 
> Already working on the next chapter! Thank you all for your support and comments! I read them all and I'm so happy you all enjoy my story!

Ashlyn rocks on her heels and looks around the hanger humming to herself. With all the excitement of meeting more of the team, she really realizes she didn’t have any other plans for the day. She could always go to the shooting range and practice, but that thought is quickly removed from her mind. What if Soldier finds her their and puts her through the course again? She was not mentally or physically ready to go through all of that again… he might make her do it more than she did yesterday. She shivers at the thought and looks down at the ground spotting a single bolt. She kicks at it gently around the hangar humming some tune she’s had stuck in her head a few days until-

**_POOMF!_ **

 

She nearly jumps out of her skin as the sound and smoke start rolling out of a nearby building just outside the hangar. Loud coughing and hacking coming from inside, so she runs to investigate.

 

“Hello!?” She calls out. “Is anyone hurt!? What happened!?

 

The loud coughing and continues as the smoke billows from the door. “It’s-  _ hack hack- _ alright! I know what I’m doin’!” A familiar voice calls back as figure starts to emerge, waving the smoke from their face. Still coughing, Junkrat dusts himself off as the smoke starts to subside. He perks up as he sees Ashlyn before him. “Oh, it’s you, Firebug,” he chuckles. “What’cha doin out here?”

 

“I was meeting the others that got back, remember?” She looks him over with concern. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

 

He rubs some soot from his nose and grins. “‘Course! I’ve had worse… just testin’ out some new bombs is all. Needs some work.”

 

Ash laughs sheepishly. “That sounds kind of dangerous.”

 

“Yeah, it is… but I like it.” He chuckles. “So… what can I do ya for?”

 

“Oh… nothing… just making sure it wasn’t an emergency…” She shifts her weight to her other leg and rubs her arm. “I’m… kind of curious to see what you do…” She admits nervously.

 

“Would you mind showing me what you were working on, by chance?”

 

He gives her an unconvincing look. “You want to see my work?”

 

She nods.

 

“Really?” He grins.

 

“I do… if that's okay..." She wrings her hands.

 

“Well…” He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. “Ain’t nobody been brave enough to come in here so I guess I’m just kinda shocked I guess… but um…” He rambles on. “Sure!” He steps aside and beckons her inside. “Come on in. Just warnin’ ya know it’s a mess so no bitchin’ about me cleaning up…”

 

Ashlyn nods and starts for the door, but pauses as she notices smoke still rolling from the top of his head. Being only a whole five feet and two inches tall, even when slouching Junkrat towers over her. Ashlyn beckons him closer.

 

"What?" He asks nervously.

 

“Bend down here for a second… you’re too tall…”

 

“Why?” He says with a weary glare.

 

“Just do it..” She grumbles.

 

Junkrat sighs and does as she asks, leaning down far enough to be at eye level with her. “There, ya happy?”

 

With the top of his head now visible, her eyes widen and gasps as she sees small red embers glowing on the tips of his hair. "Your hair's on fire!" She quickly reaches for his hair with her mechanical hand putting them out quickly and brushing the ashes along with other soot from his hair.

 

Any other person would be concerned about their hair catching fire, but not Junkrat. He just chuckles as she tousles his hair. "Oh, that? My hair catches fire all the time... no need makin' a fuss about it." As their eyes meet again she gives him a half smile. He clears his throat nervously as his eyes dart away. Raising up to his normal height, he holds motions her inside again.

 

"You're a goofball..." She says playfully as she crosses the threshold of his work area and letting her eyes wander around the room.

 

"I ain't a goofball... " He grumbles as he passes her on his way to his workbench.

 

"I happen to like goofballs." She adds as she continues to scan the room.

 

Junkrat pauses and his brows narrow. He turns to look at her over his shoulder and watches her for a moment before sitting on a rickety stool. She had both hands neatly folded behind her back as to not touch anything while she looks over the equipment and other scraps put into different piles by size or functionality. He watches as she tilts her head ever so slightly back and forth with a puzzled look on her face as she examines all the drawings and diagrams pasted to the walls. There was a silence between them for a short while as she slowly made her way around the room, but was soon broken when Ashlyn fell into a small fit of giggles.

 

"What's so funny?" He asks gruffly.

 

She fails to hide her smile and Junkrat crosses his arms as he narrows his eyes at her. "I'm sorry... it's just..." She points at a small doodle that he had done on the bottom of one of the diagrams. It was a drawing of himself and Roadhog. "This is just the cutest thing I've ever seen."

 

"Cute?!" He growls. "That there is a plan from one of me and Hogs heist! There ain't nothin' cute about a heist!" He purses his lips and hunches over.

 

"I'm sorry." She bites her lip trying to hide her smile. "It's just... I like your little doodles of you and Hog is all. I'm sorry I think they're cute... but they are."

 

"You should be." He glares. "My doodles ain't cute."

 

She stifles a laugh and joins him taking a seat in the second stool. "Yes, they are." She teases.

 

Junkrat spins around in his seat to face her and snatches a screwdriver off of the table next to his newest project, grumbling loudly. "Are not..."

 

"Are too..." She whispers, crossing her arms and resting them on the table. "So..." She starts as she looks over his workspace. "This is what you were working on?" She asks, trying to change the subject.

 

"Yep..." Junkrat pushes the device over to her and watches as she leans back cautiously. He rolls his eyes. "It ain't gonna blow, it already did."

 

Ash laughs nervously. "I knew that." She picks it up and looks it over. It was far smaller than what she expected, considering the amount of smoke it emitted. She recognized some of the basic build but the rest was all alien to her. Although the outside looks rather crude, she can't help but be impressed by the wiring. "Wow..." She whispers as she pokes through the device. "Color me impressed."

 

Junkrat scoffs. "That's just a prototype."

 

"Well, it's  an amazing prototype." She smiles and passes the device back to him.

 

He takes it and pulls parts of it apart to get to the wiring again. "Mind if I keep workin'?"

 

"Not at all!" She chimes. "I'd love to watch..."

 

He blushes, happy about the amount of soot and grime he has on his face hiding it, clearing his throat as he retrieves a soldering gun. "Well, consider yourself lucky. You're watchin' a master at work here."

 

Ashlyn chuckles and rests her head in her hand as he starts prying through the device. Junkrat starts his work, falling silent, aside from the sound of him occasionally sucking on his gold tooth when in deep thought. His brows knit into a more serious expression. With piercing yellow eyes staring intently into his work she took a moment to look over his features. Ashlyn often did this with new faces. With an eye for art, she couldn't help but be intrigued by his uniqueness. All parts of his face were intense, from his eyes to point of his chin. She followed the lines of the tendons in his neck down to his chest. She admired his pecs and her eyes wander down to his abdomen just taking notice of his washboard abs, and raising a brow.

 

_ Wow... he's ripped... _

 

She feels her cheeks flush slightly when she realizes that she had been staring at them. She shakes her head quickly, pretending to brush a stray hair from her face trying to gather back her thoughts. She sets her gaze back to his hands as he tinkers away. Although his hands dwarfed hers, she's surprised to see how delicate and careful they were. The would have to be considering he's making explosives. One wrong move and you'd lose a limb. She glances over to his mechanical hand and ponders. "Can I ask you a question?"

 

"Mhm.."

 

"I hope you don't mind me asking... but how did you lose your arm and leg?" She asks, waiting for his reaction. "You don't have to answer that if you're not comfortable-"

 

Junkrat bursts into a fit of laughter. "Let's just say my first explosives weren't as good as the beauts I make now."

 

"Oh!" She laughs sheepishly. "That would do it."

 

"What about you?" He starts. "How'd ya lose your arm?"

 

"It's kind of gross actually..." She rubs her prosthetic shyly.

 

He grins. "Okay, now you gotta tell me."

 

"Well, it was lost it in a car accident..." She starts. "When I was driving down the highway, a deer jumped in front of my car and I ran right over it. I slid into an embankment and it made my car flip on its side."

 

"Then what happened?" Junkrat pries tinkering away at his device.

 

"So... It had flipped over onto the driver's side, and the window I was bracing myself on shattered... mind you... the car was skidding on it's side at 60 miles per hour... and when my arm touched the pavement, it got pulled under the car." She pauses for a moment as Junkrat put down one of his tools to look at her with a rather disgusted look on his face. "My arm got ripped from it's socket..."

 

Junkrat shivers and grimaces. "Hooley Dooley!"

 

"Yup... It was the most painful and nastiest thing that's ever happened to me. I could literally hear it pop out of place." She frowns. "Next thing I remember, I'm in the hospital with no arm..." She sighs heavily. "The doctor said they could have put it back on, but the paramedic said it had been ground into a paste under the weight of the car."

 

Junkrat audibly gags. "Why did you have to say paste...?" He shutters.

 

"You wanted to know." She chuckles.

 

"Yeah but... I pictured it in my mind and..." He gags again.

 

"Okay, okay!" She grimaces. "I'll change the subject."

 

"Thank you..." He mumbles.

 

"What about your tattoo?" She starts abruptly. "Tell me about your tattoo."

 

Junkrat shakes off his nausea and looks down at his shoulder. It was hardly visible underneath all the filth, but he shrugs. "Okay... um..." He ponders for a moment, trying to search through his memories. "I got it... I dunno... maybe when I was 15 or 16..." He goes back to his work as he continues. "This old bloke was just sitting outside tattooin' some other bloke with a tattoo gun he made... looked like he may have made it out of some scrap he found in a trash bin... even with how dodgy it looked I thought to myself, 'Hey, I need one of those!'..." He chuckles.

 

Ashlyn grimaces and her mouth drops open slightly. Just the thought of getting a tattoo from someone who wasn't a licensed professional makes her cringe as he continues his story.

 

Junkrat notices her expression and frowns. "Where I'm from we don't have those fancy parlors like the ones you got yours in."

 

"I know... I'm sorry... I'm not judging you... I just can't imagine..." She shivers. "I'm just trying to fathom how you kept it from getting infected."

 

 

He shrugs. "I dunno either. Just lucky I guess... but I didn't get another one... tattoos hurt!"

 

She giggles softly. "Well, yeah."

 

He looks at the ones on her neck and shoulder and laughs. "You would know wouldn't ya..." He taps his fingers lightly on the table. "Where..." He starts and blushes slightly. "Where else are you tattooed?"

 

Ash's eyes widen and her cheeks flush. "Pardon?"

 

"Just curious..." He adds trying to look cool and collected. He had been curious ever since they had met. The fact that a woman would have that many tattoos fascinates him. It made him wonder where a woman would even put all those tattoos.

 

"Pretty much everywhere. " She sighs. "My arm, my neck, my back... on my hips." She blushes and pulls up on her shirt shyly and pulling down on her jeans to reveal a large tiger resting on her right hip. "This one's one of my favorites.."

 

Junkrat stiffens and his eyes widen as he watches her. He swallows hard... his face noticeably getting warmer as he stares at her exposed hip bone and can't look away.

 

_ Hooley Dooley.... _

 

"This one goes all the way down to my thigh and the other leg had one on the calf..."

 

As she moves the tail of her shirt away from the tiger's head he notices the glittering piece of jewelry on her naval. A small skull in black metal with little rubies for eyes. "You uh..." He mutters. "You got piercings everywhere too I see..." He adds with a shakiness in his voice. 

 

She quickly pulls her shirt back down and brushes away the wrinkles. "Yup..."

 

The two of them sit awkwardly quiet for a short time avoiding eye contact before Junkrat taps the table anxiously with his mechanical fingers. "So... what else did ya wanna see?"

 

She tucks her hair behind her ear ponders for a moment. "What about that gun of yours... I never did see you fire it."

 

He gives her a wide smile and leans over, groping at the underside of the table. He places the weapon in front of her on the table with a loud thud. "There she is..."

 

She bites her lip anxiously as she takes it in her hands looking over it giddily. Junkrat had never seen any woman outside of the outback look that excited to see something he had built. Even in the outback, it was rare. He watches her she scans over the weapon like a child would a new toy.

 

Ashlyn couldn't wipe the smile from her face if she tried. The crude but practical craftsmanship of it was awe-inspiring to her. She ran her fingers over every inch of it to try and better understand the beautifully dangerous piece of art. She sighs happily. "This is gorgeous."

 

He gives her a large toothy grin puffing out his chest proudly. "My genius is finally recognized."

 

Ashlyn grins up at him holding the gun to her chest. "You really are! People don't give you enough credit!" She looks down at the gun again. "I can't believe you built this from scratch!"

 

"Believe it, Firebug. Built it with me own two hands." He boasts, smiling proudly. He looks down at his project and pushes it aside. "If you think you like that little thing, you’ll love this!” 

 

He hops down from his stool and makes his way across the room to a well worn, not to mention filthy, couch. Leaning against it was the large spiked tire that he wore on his back from before. Like his launcher, she had only seen a glimpse of it before in the excitement of her rescue. Junkrat lifts it from its place on the floor and lays it out on the couch with the yellow panel facing outward. He turns to her smiling widely as he eagerly motions Ashlyn over.

 

Ashlyn snickers as she climbs down from her seat and joins him still carrying the launcher.

 

He pats the wall of the tire with the largest proudest grin Ashlyn had ever seen. “This, m’lady, is my greatest creation. I call it, a RIP tire!”

 

“Rip tire?” She asks.

 

Junkrat chuckles. “You know, ‘Rest in Peace’?”

 

It takes a second, but once the joke makes its mark Ashlyn’s eyes widen and she laughs aloud. “Oh! I get it! Very cool!” She smiles and examines it closer. Under the yellow panel, there was a small motor, probably from a motorcycle or a lawnmower. The tire itself was adorned with large spikes made of metal of some kind, but she can’t tell just from looking.

 

“Aces right? If you hear this little beaut coming, you’re already six feet under.” He chuckles rather maniacally. “Ya see, how it works is-” He takes the chain in his hand. “Ya pull on this to start the engine, making the tire spin. With these spikes here gave it better traction in the sand back home, but the tire takes off! You send in to a group of baddies, and when the time is right you hit the detonator and set off the bomb inside!” Junkrat breaks out into a fit of maniacal laughter.

 

“Very efficient!” She grins and snickers to herself. With the motor, large spikes, and the thick chain attached to it, it had to be heavy. “Wait… and you carry this on your back?!”

 

“Yup.” Junkrat places his hands on his hips smiling down at his tire like a parent would their child.  With his lanky stature and tall frame, no wonder his posture is horrendous.

 

_ That explains... _

 

She looks down at his hardened abdomen again while his gaze was elsewhere. 

 

_ Those... _

 

She blushes and looks away quickly, trying desperately to change the subject in her own mind. “Doesn’t that hurt your back?”

 

“Not as much anymore. When I made me first one, it hurt my back something awful.” Junkrat shrugs. “But this one is a lot lighter compared to the first, so liftin’ this one is a piece of cake!” He cradles an arm underneath of it and places it back in it’s spot. He sighs and looks around the room for a moment and then down at Ashlyn. “I’m bored now…” He grins when he sees she’s still holding his launcher. “How about we take the launcher and go blow up a few targets, eh?”

 

Ash's eyes widen. "Really!? I mean... is there a safe place to do that?"

 

"Of course there is! How do you think I test these babies?" 

 

She gives him a skeptical look before she handing the gun to him. "You've got a point..." She gives him a big smile and bounces giddily. "Okay! Let's do it!"

 

"That's the spirit!"

 

As Ashlyn heads towards the door, Junkrat pockets a remote from his workbench and gathers up a few more explosives into a brown sack. "I haven't been on a mission in a while, besides the one where we picked you up, but I didn't get to make enough good booms while we were there and I'm itchin' to blow something the fuck up!"

 

"Fair enough!" She waits for him at the entrance. "Need me to carry anything?"

 

Junkrat shakes his head as he shoulders the brown sack. “Nah, what’cha got there will be fine. Thanks for askin’..." He motions for her to follow. "Shall we?"

 

\----

 

The pair makes their way across the base, passing Mercy's clinic and armory. Passing the field where the dreaded course called home was a relatively large empty field surrounded by large cement walls. The field itself was mostly sand but was littered with black scorch marks and bits metal strung about. Close to the center lay a huge pile of scrapped bots.

 

"Where did they come from?" Ashlyn asks pointing to the large pile.

 

Junkrat places the sack down carefully and looks up. "Oh, the bots? Those are training bots... Soldiers got this fancy training ground on site with these bots to make it feel like a real fight... you'll end up there soon enough..." He reaches into the sack and pulls out his a hand full of round balls, no bigger than a pool ball. He puts them into the gun's clip and snaps it in place. "The let me have the ones that don't work anymore so I can test my explosives on 'em."

 

"Neat..." She adds watching him wander out to the pile of training bots. 

 

Pulling one from the wreckage, he drags it out to be on its own in the middle of a large scorch mark. He dusts off his hands and walks back to her side. "Okay, so here's what we're gonna do..." He shoulders the bag again and moves it behind a sheet of metal held up by two wooden pegs in the ground. "We're gonna stand behind here for all the booms, kay?" He takes her by her shoulders and centers her behind the makeshift shield. He places the frag launcher in her hands and shows her the proper way to hold it. "You might wanna hold on to this bit here... I shoot it from the hip, but it may give you a bit of a kick since you ain't use to it."

"So you're gonna let me shoot it?" She asks giving him a surprised expression.

"Sure! I wasn't going to bring you here to just watch!" He chuckles and leans down. "Now... if you're gonna aim you use this..." Tapping the crude sight on the end of the launcher. "But pretty much all you gotta do is pull the trigger and the gun does the rest." He steps aside and rests his hands on his hips. "Go for it!"

Ashlyn shrugs and attempts to aim, giving it a test fire. POMF! With a small kick, one of the small balls launches out of the gun in an arch landing a few feet in front of the bot and bouncing past it. She watches it as it begins to ring, like an egg timer, but it abruptly explodes making her jump. "Woah!" She giggles and aims again. "Okay... so they like to bounce... I go this..." She mutters to herself before pulling the trigger once more. With another arch, it lands close by again in front of the bot and bounces into the body making it explode immediately. 

 

Parts blast off in several directions and Junkrat erupts into a fit of shrill cackles, clapping happily. "Nice job, Fireball! You learn fast!"

 

She grins and fires the last three shots obliterating the last of the robot's form. She throws her arms up triumphantly as the parts scatter across the field. "WOOH! What a rush!" She hugs the launcher. "I love this thing!"

 

Junkrat grins widely. "You thought that was great? Wait 'til you see these puppies!" He digs into the brown sack pulling out a disk-like object. He darts out to the pile of bots and pulls a second one from the heap. After dragging it in place, he puts the device in one of the gaps in its chassis. Running back he pulls out the item he had placed in his pocket prior to leaving his workshop and hands it to her. "Alright... now..." He flips open the red cap and places her thumb on the button inside. "You're gonna wanna take more cover for this one, but it's gonna be good!"

 

The two of them duck down behind the metal sheet. "So... I just push the red button?" She asks cautiously. She was already riled up from the other explosions and she wants to be careful.

 

He nods vigorously and huddles behind her. "I'm not usein' ya as a shield..." He puts his hands over her ears. "This is gonna be loud."

 

She could smell the soot on his hands, like an old coal stove. It was slightly comforting, bringing back memories of staying at her grandmother's house in winter. She looks down at the device and grips it tightly. She peeks over the metal sheet and presses the button.

 

**_BOOM!_ **

 

She immediately ducks back down, her eyes blinking involuntarily as the sound rattles through her body. Junkrat's hands release her ears and he jumps up and cheers loudly as she peeks up over the wall again. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she had a goofy smile on her face as the small chunks of flaming debris were still settling around where the former bot lay.

 

"You havin' fun?" Junkrat asks through his loud cackles.

 

"I am!" She chuckles. "Let's do it again."

 

"Ask and you shall receive!"

 

The two of them demolish two, three, four bots. Aside from the occasional clumps of dirt and bolts raining down on their heads, the pair seems to be having a good time. Junkrat sets up a bot for the last charge and bounds back to hide behind the wall again.

 

"Last one! Make it good!" Junkrat cackles holding her ears again.

 

She gives him a wide smile and bites her lip as she starts to push down on the trigger. Just as she presses the button, the robot falls over to its side blasting flaming parts outward rather than upward as before. A few parts whiz by the wall making them both duck, but through the small gap under the metal sheet, a flaming piece of shrapnel embeds itself deep into Ashlyn's calf.

 

Ashlyn screams and falls to her side gripping her calf tightly. Junkrat is taken aback for a moment but sees her pants leg has caught fire and goes to puts it out and finds the large piece of metal sticking out of her flesh and bleeding profusely. Ashlyn curls into a fetal position hissing in pain.

 

"Fuck.. Fuck! I'm sorry! I didn't.. I mean it was an accident... Fuck!" Junkrat rambles his hands shaking as reaches out to touch her but pulls away afraid he may hurt her more.

 

Ashlyn reaches out and takes his hand squeezing it firmly. "I'm okay..." She winces. "Just... help me up... okay?"

 

Junkrat nods and helps her to her feet. She puts weight tries to limp forward but stumbles, nearly falling but Junkrat catches her. She winces and gasps sharply through her teeth. 

 

"That's it. I'm carrying you..."

 

"What?" She shakes her head. "No, it's okay, I got this..."

 

"No ya don't... and it's my fault you're hurt anyway so I'm carrying you!" He says firmly, looping her arm around his neck and moving in front of her. "Climb up."

 

Squatting down, he loops his arm under her knees and pulls her up on his back. She pulls her arms around his neck as he raises, lifting her with ease. He looks down and sees her blood dripping down to the ground. "Still good?" He asks nervously.

 

"Yeah, I'm good. Let's go, this fucking hurts!" She whimpers and presses her head into his back.

 

"Okay, okay..." He grips her tightly and quickly carries her through the base.

 

Ashlyn presses her forehead into the crook of his neck despite the amount of soot that was being smeared onto her skin. She hisses and whimpers with each breath causing Junkrat to try and turn his head to check on her occasionally but she assures him that she's alright despite the amount of pain she was in. The searing agony throbbed through her entire leg below the knee. The metal was deep, she could feel a sharp, piercing feeling through to the other side of the muscle.

 

_ It must have nearly gone all the way through… Shit. _

 

This wound didn’t compare to losing her arm, but she was unconscious for the majority of that ordeal. Maybe if she can think of it like getting the tattoo on her neck. It was one of the more painful of her tattoos. Anything would help now. The last thing she wanted was to panic. Judging by the way Junkrat reacted if she panicked he would for sure. Instead she tries to steady her breathing like she did while getting her neck peice. Repeating to herself over and over in her mind. _‘In through your nose. Out your mouth.’_. 

 

As her chest rises and falls in time with her breathing, her soft cushion of her front pressed against his back causing his mind to wander. It had been a long time since he had woman pressed against him. Anytime that would happen it was usually a woman trying to seduce him into letting his guard down to pickpocket or stab him in the back. Ashlyn wasn’t like the women back home, at least he’d like to think so. Swallowing hard, he feels the warmth of her breath brush the skin of his back. The combination of the two sensations was starting to make him feel uneasy and his shorts rather uncomfortable. He grumbles under his breath and bites down on his lower lip hard trying to snap himself out of his own mind… and the mind of something else, which usually did as it wanted.

 

_ "Com’on'! She's hurt for fuck's sake! It's no time to be thinking about her tits, ya fuckin' perv!" _

 

She unwraps her arms from his neck and grips his shoulders with both hands firmly. Her hands quiver as she whimpers in pain. As hard as she tried, she still couldn’t drown out the pain. It was starting to get unbearable. Junkrat looks down at one of her hands, her nails digging into his skin slightly. 

 

“Nearly there, love. You’re doin’ great.” He says in a gentle tone. He feels her nod, her forehead still pressing firmly into his neck.

 

Seconds later the two make it to the clinic and Junkrat knocks hard on the door. “Oi, Doc! You in?”

 

The door swings open and Angela glares up at him. “Jamison what did I say about making an appointment!”

 

“Kind of an emergency this time, Doc.” He turns showing Angela her patient clinging to his back.

 

She gives them a quizzical look at first but under further examination, she finds the wound now dripping onto cement just in front of her door. She gasps and ushers them in without a second thought. “Bring her in!”

 

Junkrat follows her and takes Ashlyn to the bed Angela points out to him. While Angela washes and gloves her hands, Junkrat backs up to the edge of the bed. Slowly and gently he lowers Ashlyn down and steps away when he feels her grip from his shoulders subside. Turning around he helps pull her legs up onto the bed and scoot back to a more comfortable position.

 

Angela hurries to her side and begins her examination. “What happened, Jamison? What did you do?”

 

Junkrat sneers. “You think _I_ did this?”

 

“It’s apparent that this is debris from one of your bombs. What were you doing?!” She hisses.

 

“I didn’t do nothin’!” He growls back, the two of them now glaring at one another.

 

“Stop this,” Ashlyn interjects. “It wasn’t his fault. It was my idea to go to the testing range.”

 

Junkrat and Angela turn to look at her both with an expression of disbelief.

 

“Look…” Ashlyn winces. “We were behind cover… but the shard came through a small gap under the metal we didn’t notice... I pulled the trigger. I blew up the scrapped robot. Not him, alright?”

 

Angela and Junkrat just stare at her for a moment. Angela sighs deeply and bows her head. “Alright. Let’s get you patched up.” She looks back up at Junkrat, still covered in layers of soot from his smoke bomb accident earlier on. “You’re filthy,” Angela growls. “You need to leave. This is a sterile environment and I want to prevent her from getting any other infections.”

 

Junkrat scowls at her. “I ain’t leavin’.”

 

“I understand your concern, Jamison, but you must leave the clinic.” She states firmly. “You can wait outside if you must, but right now I need to tend to my patient.”

 

“It’s okay…” Ashlyn reaches out and touches Junkrats arm, grabbing his attention. “I’ll be alright. Just do what she says…” She offers him a small reassuring smile.

 

Junkrat sighs and nods his head. “Alright… just cause you said so…” He adds before turning and taking his leave. “I’ll be right outside.”

 

Ashlyn nods and winces under Angela’s touch. Junkrat hesitates for a moment at the door, but exits the clinic and closes the door hard behind him. He growls loudly and leans against the concrete wall just next to the door so he can listen in. He sliding down the wall to sit on the ground, slouching forward to rest his arms on his knees .“Good goin’, Junkrat.” He grumbles to himself.

 

Angela takes a set of shears and cuts a slit up her pant leg, and folding the fabric away. After cleaning and sterilizing the area Angela rests her hand on her leg gently. “I’m going to give you something to help the pain while we remove the metal.” Angel takes a syringe and fills it with the contents of a small vial. “You’ll feel a slight pinch, dear.” She adds softly.

 

Ashlyn only nods looking away. She had leaned back onto the bed, gripping the pillow tightly. Her fingers digging deeply into the cloth with each peirce of the needle. Soon there was some numbness but the wound was deep. There was only so much numbing Angela could do, but every little bit would help.

 

After Angela was sure the anesthetic had taken effect, she gently wiggles the metal shard in Ashlyn’s leg ever so slightly. “There will still be some pain, but all you should feel besides that is pressure. Let me know if there’s any change.”

 

Ashlyn nods again. “Just do it.”

 

Angela slowly begins to pull away the metal shard. Ashlyn whimpers under her breath as the deepest parts of the wound still throbbed with pain. Not nearly as bad as before, but that and the sounds the wound was making began to make Ashlyn’s stomach flip. She swallows hard and clenches her teeth together firmly as she feels the last bit of the metal slip out of the gash in her leg.

 

“It’s out.” Angela affirms.

 

Ashlyn lets out a deep breath. She hadn’t noticed she was holding it, but it felt good knowing that the foreign object in her leg was gone. She looks down at her still bleeding leg and the metal. Ashlyn’s eyes widen when she observes the sheer size of it.  It was nearly 12 inches long and blood had marked off just how far it was embedded in her leg. By the looks of it, it had bored in nearly half of it’s length.

 

After a thorough cleaning of the open wound, Angela leaves the room for a moment. Upon returning, Ashlyn is surprised to see her holding a large staff. “Um…. what is that?” Ashlyn asks nervously.

 

“Oh, this?” Angela smiles and holds it over her leg. “This is my Caduceus. It uses nanobiotics to amplify the body’s normal healing. For wounds such as this, it can heal it almost instantly.”

 

Ashlyn gives her an unconvinced look as the end of the Caduceus begins to glow. She feels a strange tingling sensation and a golden beam reaches out of the end and touches her wound. Ashlyn’s eyes widen and her jaw drops in amazement as her wound closes right before her eyes. In an instant, any pain that remains is gone.

 

“Wow…” She whispers. “Thank you so much!” She reaches out and touches her leg, still in awe. She swings her legs over the edge of the bed and steps off. She bounces on her leg grinning widely. “That’s amazing!”

 

Angela smiles and nods. “You’re welcome… I’m sorry about having to cut your pants.”

 

“Oh, no worries.” Ashlyn giggles. “I can always cut them into shorts.” She rubs her chin. “Can I borrow those sheers again?”

 

\----

 

Junkrat chews on his inner lip as he stares down into the concrete. He feels as if he’s been waiting forever. Anxiously he taps his foot and grumbles to himself, but is startled just as the door opens. He jumps to his feet when Ashlyn comes out offering him a small smile.

 

“How ya feelin’? You all fixed up?”

 

“I am actually!” She beams.

 

Junkrat grins. “That Ca-whos-a-whats-it is pretty neat, eh?”

 

Angela sighs loudly as she follows behind Ashlyn. “I’ve told you before, Jamison, it’s  _ Caduceus _ .” She enunciates, rather annoyed that he had mispronounced it in such a childish manor.

 

“That’s what I said, Ca-doo-hickey.”

 

Angela glares in the direction of a stifled laugh and finds Ashlyn biting on her lip, trying hard not to smile. “Don’t encourage him.” She mutters. “Please, for the goodness sake, stay out of trouble you two. No more explosions…” Angela folds her arms and steps back into her clinic, giving the two a stern look before shutting the door.

 

Ashlyn giggles aloud when Junkrat sticks out his tongue at the door just as it closes behind Angela.

 

“Can’t tell me what to do. You ain’t my mom.” He mutters and grins at Ashlyn. “We can blow shit up anytime we well please, eh?”

 

Ashlyn smiles but rolls her eyes. “Not until we fix that barricade.”

 

Junkrats grin stretches into a tight nervous smile. “Eeeh…you gotta point.” He lowers his head in a shameful matter. “I’m sorry you got hurt. It was an accident I swear. If I’d known-”

 

Ashlyn holds up her hand. “I know it was, but it wasn’t your fault.”

 

With his head still bowed, he looks up from the ground at her. His brows knitted into a sad, puppy like, expression. Ashlyn smiles. “Don’t look at me like that.” She tousles his hair, soot flying everywhere. He groans in protest pulling away. “I told you I’m fine, so don’t beat yourself up about it.”

 

“Well, yeah… I guess…” Junkrat slicks back his hair as she turns to leave. “Are you sure you’re not hurtin’ or nothin’? I-I can carry you again if ya want.” He adds quickly, sneering at the sound of his voice cracking. As Ashlyn begins to turn around he tries to appear cool and collected about it by looking away when she looks at him. “I mean, only if you really need me to I guess… it’s no biggie.” He checks to see if his ruse worked by peeking at her out of the corner of his eye and is shocked to see her smiling.

 

She turns to face him again, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m fine. I’m in no pain what so ever.” She gives him a sly smile. “Nice try though.”

 

Junkrat purses his lips and looks rocks on his heel. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Besides… I got filthy enough riding on your back the first time.” Wiping soot from her forehead onto a clean part of her forearm and holding out for him to see.

 

He grumbles, looking down at his own arms. He usually wouldn’t mind at all, but since he’s been in Overwatch, the others have complained more and more about his hygiene. Even Roadhog had threatened to have Ana knock him out with one of her sleep darts if he didn’t start bathing regularly. In the outback you didn’t have the convenience of a shower. It was rare to even have clean running water. So without any other excuse, Junkrat had done just that. Under Roadhog’s strict orders and the fear of being tranquilized like a wild animal, he agrees to shower twice a week. “Eh… I guess you’re right.”

 

She snickers and starts off towards the dorm. “I’m headed back to my room for a shower. That’s not an invitation.”

 

He trots up to her and walks along side her. “That’s no fun! Showers are better when you got someone to shower with.” He nudges her in the side wiggling those goofy brows of his at her again.

 

“You wish!” She laughs pushing him playfully, knocking him off-balance.

 

“Oi! A guy can dream, can’t he?” Junkrat pushes back gently.

 

Her laughter trails off into nervous giggles as her she feels her face and ears flare up.

 

_ He can’t be into me, can he? He’s just messin’ around like usual. Yeah… that’s it! _

 

“Well uh, I’m going to go ahead and go shower and stuff…maybe take a nap.” She adds.

 

Junkrat nods. “I’ve gotta clean up that mess we made or Soldier’s gonna have my head. Maybe fix that barricade before gettin’ me own shower.”

 

The two of them stop just outside of the hangar and Ashlyn turns to Junkrat leaning against one of the large metal crates. “So, I’ll see you later then?” She offers a small smile and tucking some stray hairs behind her ear. 

 

Junkrat pushes his hands in his pockets and smiles back. “Sure thing! How’s about I come wake you up before dinnies, eh? I’ll be back that ways after in a few hours after I finish up back at the demo site and the shop. Then I’ll come get’cha after my shower?”

 

“Sounds like a plan.” She nods. “See you later, goofball.” She adds as she walks away.

 

“I _ain’t_ a goofball!” He yells back from a distance.


	9. "Hooley... fuckin' Dooley."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junkrat gets a bath!
> 
> (This part gets kind of Explicit. You've been warned.)
> 
> ;3

Ashlyn grins and makes her way through the long hangar, waving to Torbjorn and Bastion as she passes, the two of them hard at work organizing equipment no doubt. Strolling through the halls, she can’t help but smile thinking back on her day with Junkrat. She thinks back on the way the explosions made her feel. The way the adrenaline pulsed through her body just as the device went off and the smell of the smoke and flames. Despite having a flaming shard of metal skewered through her leg, it had been a really fun day.

Thinking back on the way that Junkrat had reacted to her injury had her mind wandering. She still had a lot more to learn about this strange man, but in this short time, she can’t see what Mei was so worried about. From the few days she’s known him, she could divulge that he was loud, impulsive, and unpredictable… but he was genuinely concerned for her well-being… enough to carry her to Angela’s clinic. He was odd, no doubt about that, but the way he refused to leave her side in the clinic... The way he teases to get a rise out of her… The goofy way he wiggles his eyebrows at her…  
  
_That adorable sad puppy face he made when-_  
  
Ashlyn pauses right outside of her room, shaking her head and opening the door. Making her way to the washroom she begins to strip away layers of her clothing.  
  
“Adorable? Did I just use the word adorable to describe Junkrat?” She mumbles to herself as she lets her hair down. Removing her arm, she sets in on the sink and steps into the shower, letting the warm water pelt her back. Sudzing up a washcloth, she scrubs away the soot and grime from her arm and forehead.  
  
“How could I get this filthy from one piggy-back ride! The man’s a soot magnet!” She chuckles, taking a small dollop of shampoo she gently massages it into her hair. Having one arm, it helps to have shorter hair. She would admit, shaving her legs would have to be the worst part of having one arm. “I can’t even imagine the time he’s going to have to get all of that off of him only having one arm and leg.”  
  
She tilts her head into the water, letting it cascade down her back. She rubs her hand through her hair over and her body, wiping away the extra suds, resting it a moment on her abdomen. Her thoughts wander as she thinks back on how easily he carried her. She was surprised at how strong he was. At first glance, Junkrat appears lanky and awkward… but after a closer examination of him today he was built. His long, strong arms... rippling abs cascading down into rather delicious ‘v’ lines leading down to his…   
  
Ashlyn’s blush sears through her cheeks, gripping the temperature controls of the shower and switching on the cold water. Letting out a shrill yelp as the icy water splashes down over her face, she turns the valve off and shakes the water from her hair.  
  
_“I just pictured him naked...”_ She sinks her head into her hand and whimpers in embarrassment. She snatches a towel from the rack and slams her face into it and grumbles loudly. After toweling off, she grabs her arm and stomps off into the other room. She pulls on a set of clean clothes and slams down onto her bed. _“You have more important things to worry about, Ashlyn. Get your mind out of the gutter!”_  
  
She covers her head with a pillow closing her eyes tightly, grumbling loudly to herself when she attempts to get the images of Junkrat’s torso out of her mind. _“You are a grown woman…”_ She scolds herself. _“Technically he is your colleague! You have to be professional about this. Don’t make it weird!”_  
  
Sighing deeply she peels the pillow off of her head and curls up into a ball. She nuzzles her face deep into the fabric and lets her eyes close, eventually dozing off.  
  
\----  
  
Meanwhile, Junkrat had cleaned away the bots from the testing field and reinforcing the barricade with larger, thicker, sheet of metal. Making sure nothing can get under the barrier again, he buries it a foot deep before securing it to the wooden posts. He rests his hands on his hips looking over his work. Kicking it hard to make sure it wouldn’t fall over. Of course, it wouldn’t hold up to an explosion up close, but it’s still safer than it was before.   
  
He kicks it hard again for good measure, this time to take out his frustration. “Why didn’t I fix it before I brought her down here… it’s my fault she got hurt. Even if she says it ain’t…” He mutters retrieving his frag launcher. With a deep sigh, he shoulders it and starts for the exit but is taken aback when he’s met face to face with his giant of a companion.  
  
“HOLY FUCK, ROADY!” He squawks grasping at his chest, nearly doubling over. “For a big fucka you’re sneakier than that Genji.”  
  
Roadhog chuckles gruffly behind his mask, clearly pleased to with himself. It wasn’t often he could sneak up on Junkrat, but when he did he enjoyed very much. Watching him jump out of his skin like a frightened cat.  
  
Junkrat shakes his head as he tries to catch his breath. “What’cha want?”  
  
“Just checkin’ on ya. Heard explosions and though you might be here.” He shrugs looking around at the test site then back at Junkrat. “You’re filthy.”  
  
“I’m a grown man and I don’t need checkin’ up on...” Junkrat growls. “First ya can’t get rid of me fast enough now you’re up my arse. Not to mention insulting my personal hygiene!”  
  
“Hm.” Roadhog lets out a throaty sigh. “I heard the explosions and after not seein’ you at lunch I assumed you must have blown yourself up this time. I came to check on ya cause I’m the only one other than you who comes down here...”  
  
“I’ll have you know I invited the new girl to come down here to test some bombs and she was more than eager to blow some shit up with me!” He puffs out his chest grinning proudly. “And she said she was very impressed.” He boasts.  
  
“ _Sure_ she did.” Roadhog adds sarcastically.  
  
“You could say we had a ‘blast’!” Junkrat burst out into hysterical laughter, holding his ribs.  
  
Roadhog groans loudly. You could almost hear his eyes rolling from behind his mask, but scans the field once more. “So… where is she then?”  
  
“Nappin’ now I s’pose…” He looks down to at the ground and kicks at a small scrap of metal. “That barricade wasn’t sturdy enough. She got hurt.” He adds with a somber tone.  
  
“She what?!” Hog growls.  
  
Junkrat holds up a hand defensively. “No worries, mate! She’s fine… doc fixed her up good, but… It’s my fault. Should've fixed that weeks ago…” He frowns and shuffles past Hog. “She was real nice about it though… standin’ up for me when doc tried to blame me like I did it on purpose.”  
  
Hog turns and looks over his skinny colleague and follows him, listening intently.  
  
“She’s a tough one, she is…” He adds with a smirk.  
  
Hog grunts in agreement.  
  
“I think she might actually like me. You know… not like… fakin’ it as to not hurt me feelings.” He smiles, rubbing the back of his neck.  
  
Roadhog chuckles gruffly. “Sounds like you’re sweet on ’er…”  
  
Junkrat recoils, whirling around in shock. “Am not!”  
  
Hog falls into a torrent of loud laughter and coughing as Junkrat glares up at him. “It’s kind of obvious…”  
  
“Sweet on who?” A chipper voice suddenly chimes in behind them.  
  
The two turn around to see Tracer smiling up at them.  
  
“None of your business.” Junkrat hisses.  
  
Tracer giggles. “Oh yeah? If it’s none of my business then you are sweet on somebody!” She turns her attention to Roadhog. “So, who is it then? Is it the new girl, Ashlyn?” She gasps and her eyes widen when she sees Junkrat’s brows furrow. “It is! Haha!” She bounces giddily. “Aw, Junkrat! That’s so sweet!”  
  
Junkrat rolls his eyes and sneers turning on his heel, stomping away. Luckily for him, the soot was covering what would be an obvious red face underneath. “I ain’t sweet on nobody! Piss off!”  
  
“Aw, don’t be like that.” Tracer frowns. “I’ll keep your secret! Promise!”  
  
“Ain’t no secret to keep!” He yells as he stomps off toward dorms.  
  
“So I can tell Lucio then?” She yells back.  
  
“ ** _NO!_** ” He barks.  
  
“Then you do fancy her then?” She smirks when he holds up a single finger over his shoulder as he disappears down the hall.   
  
Wearing a scowl all through the base as many of the volunteers on site duck out of his way in fear that they might worsen the already unpredictable junker's mood.

_"Who does that Tracer think she is? Barging in on our conversation like that! Rude!! Doesn't even know what she's talking about! I ain't sweet on nobody!"_

  
He huffs loudly and stops at in front of his room. He looks back at Ashlyn's door for a few seconds, his brows furrowing and he sighs deeply as he opens his door. Just as it shuts behind him, he was already removing his only article of clothing. Loudly undoing the buckle and letting his shorts drop to the floor, he steps over them on his way to the washroom.

Eager to be finished with what will eventually turn out to be a waste of his time, considering after one day's worth of work in his shop he'll just be filthy again, he turns on the water. He puts his flesh hand underneath the stream to make sure it was nice and hot, just the way he liked it. After the bothersome task of removing his two prosthetic limbs, carefully and awkwardly he climbs into the shower sitting down on the plastic stool that Angela had provided him. He sat facing the water letting it beat against his blackened chest, purring as the heat soaks into his muscles. All though he'd never admit it, as pointless as he thinks it is to shower, it felt really fucking good. Leaning forward, the water cascades over his head and back. Taking a few moments to really let the water soak in he looks down at the murky brown water as it swirls sadly down the drain.

"Wow" He scoffs. "Really needed one I guess."

With one arm it was really hard to get most parts of his body, so soaking under the water for a while was usually his best bet to get clean. He scrubs what parts he can reach as best he can and washes his hair. He looks down at his hand and sees very few if any strands of hair. After going through some treatments with Angela, he had stopped losing his hair. In fact, he was noticing that some of his hair was starting to grow back in some spots and his hair was thicker. Out of the radiation of his old home in a few years, he might even have a whole head of hair again... if he doesn't burn it off.

Smiling he chuckles to himself as he thinks back on Ashlyn seeing his hair on fire today. The look on her face was priceless. She's so short he had to nearly bend all the way over for her to reach the top of his head... and when their eyes met... he felt the same tightness in his chest when he detonated his first bomb and a light tickling feeling in his stomach that made him slightly nauseous. Now that he was thinking about it, that happened every time she looked at him with that kind smile of hers. She looked at him differently than the others in Overwatch. A strange sincereness that he wasn't used to.

She was nice to him, but he didn't know why. Before he didn't trust her an inch, but now... he feels like he can, which baffles him completely. What baffles him more is she seems to trust him. Probably not the best idea, but she does anyway. No one besides Hog has ever gone into his workshop before or to the testing zone. Not only that, she had fun. With him!! She actually likes doing the same things he does, which is even more strange. Maybe there was something wrong with her? Maybe she's just being nice? He can't wrap his head around her, but at the same time, he likes that.

She was different than the women that he was used to. Different than all the women here on base... and definitely the most interesting to look at. Her strange haircut, all of her piercings... and those tattoos. Those really catch his attention, especially the ones on her hip. He can't forget that moment no matter how hard he tried... seeing her milky flesh covered in all of those vibrant colors.

It starts to make him think of where else she may be tattooed. She said she was covered, before too long, he was undressing her in his mind. Stripped down to only the most risque underwear he can imagine. Biting onto his lip he realizes he's been washing something for a while... and it was now at full attention. He grips around it firmly as his mind continues to wander, stroking it slowly as he imagines himself tracing every inch of her hips with his mouth. He thinks about nipping and tasting the boney parts of her hip, following the tiger over to the other hip, all the while gripping onto her ass that he's stared at so many times... the way it filled her skinny jeans... thinking about having his hands all over her drives him crazy.

His mouth hangs open slightly, panting as he begins to speed up the pace of his strokes. He leans back against the wall of the shower, letting the water beat against his chest. He takes in a sharp breath when he tries to imagine what kind of little noises she would make if he would bite and lick her flesh. Oh God, does he hope she would make noise. He would want to make her whimper and moan. His tongue lulls out of his mouth, panting harder. He'd love to taste all of her. He imagines now that he's exploring her neck and shoulders, those soft breasts that were pressed against his back today... he thinks about how they would feel pressed against his chest.

He huffs loudly, feeling the pressure building inside him. His brows furrow and bite down on his lip hard, wincing as the thought of her calling out his name. The pressure that had been building explodes all at once. He grunts loudly and his strokes vigorously as he empties his load. Any mess that he would have made washes away. He sits motionless for a moment, riding out the last few pulses of pleasure through his body, panting heavily as the water pelts his chest.

"Hooley... _fucking_ Dooley..." He mutters with a shakiness in his voice.

He finishes up his shower, washing the rest of 'himself' away. After turning off the water, he grabs a towel he laid out for himself and begins to dry himself off, still sitting in the shower. When he dries the scared ends of his missing limbs, he swiftly puts his peg leg and arm back in their rightful place. Now able to climb out of the shower he drapes the towel over his shoulders and ventures into his bedroom to find his shorts and slips them back on. They were still filthy and definitely needed a wash, but he didn't take notice. Glancing up at the clock he grumbles and tosses the wet towel across the room and heads for his door to wake Ashlyn for dinner as promised.

Junkrat stands quietly outside Ashlyn's door chewing the inside of his lip. After what he had just done in the shower, he feels slightly afraid to face her. He grumbles loudly into the palm of his flesh and rubs his face. He runs his fingers through his hair before finally reaching out and knocking on the door lightly.

"Oi... Firebug, time for dinnies... you up?" He calls out.

Ashlyn bolts up out of bed. "I'm up!" She exclaims groggily. She rubs her eyes and looks up at the clock before rolling out of the nest of blankets. She puts her hair up in a messy bun and heads to the door. Just as it opens, she's met with a freshly clean bare chest. Her face flushes as she follows the lines of his neck up to his face. He was certainly intimidating with all the soot, but now... he looked so vulnerable... bare to the world.

_Freckles? He has freckles. That’s… adorable!_

Her chest tightens as their eyes meet. Those same intense amber eyes burning brightly, right through her very soul. She lets out a little gasp feeling her face heat up as his brows furrow into a more quizzical expression.

"It ain't polite to stare..."

"Oh! I wasn't staring..." She says sheepishly. "Just surprised is all."

"Well, just don't get used to it..." He grumbled. "I'll be just as filthy again tomorrow."

She looks up at his freshly cleaned hair slicked back. It was much more vibrant now, he was nearly a platinum blonde. She smiles and tousles it gently. "Wow, you have pretty hair, Junkrat. When it's not on fire." She giggles.

He snorts and gently swats away her hand, wrinkling his nose at her. "No, it ain't." He hisses, he could feel his face beginning to flush, and without his protective layer, she would see it for sure... Her and any other prying eyes. He turns and starts heading down the hallway. "We eatin' or what? I'm starved."

Ashlyn smiles and rolls her eyes, following close behind. Now that he was facing away from her, she took that as an opportunity to examine his new form closer. Following the lines of his neck down his shoulders, lightly dusted with faint freckles. Her eyes wandered down the trail of the freckles down his back. Angular and equally toned as his front. She quickly turns her sites away from his body upon realizing she was indeed staring now.

"You're bein' quite tonight..." Junkrat says looking over his shoulder at her.

Ash scurries up to walk alongside him. "I guess I'm still tired." She lied.

"Ain't hurtin' any are ya?" He asks with a slightly worried tone.

She shakes her head and smiles at him reassuringly. "Not at all."

He nods. "That's good..."

The two continue down the long corridor silently, occasionally exchanges awkward glances at one another. Each realizing that something had changed between them today. Junkrat couldn't help but feel ashamed of his act he had committed in the shower. It wasn't the first time he had done that and he damn well knew it would not be the last... but to do that to the thought of someone he knew? He had NEVER done that before. He usually didn't have to think of much at all. It just... happened... Something about her riled him up, but not just sexually... the feeling he got when she smiled at him was something that he had never felt before. Some foreign feeling that he couldn't wrap his head around, but it pulled at him. Making him want to be around her. To make her smile at him. Luckily for him, the two of them made it into the mess hall before his thoughts could wander any further. He hated to think too much. Made his head hurt.

Just as they walk through the entrance, the two are approached by Mei and Zarya.

"Ashlyn..." Mei mutters sheepishly. "May I speak to you?"

Ashlyn nods and turns to Junkrat. She motions for him to continue onward. "You go ahead, I'll catch up."

Junkrat shot the two women a look of suspicion before stuffing his hands in his pockets and heading toward the buffet to meet up with Roadhog who was just making it there himself.

Ashlyn turns to Mei, she had a sad shameful look about her. Like a child who's coming to fess up to breaking a precious vase or drawing on the walls. Mei looks to Zarya pleadingly. Zarya only motions with her head toward Ashlyn. Mei lets out a soft sigh and wrings her hands.

"I-I.. wanted to apologize for the way that I acted the other day..." Mei says in a soft voice. "I really should be apologizing to Junkrat and Mr. Roadhog too... but... I thought that... if I apologized to you first..."

Ashlyn smiles and rests her hand on Mei's shoulder, making her flinch and look up at her in surprise. "It's okay..." Ashlyn says in a soothing tone. "Already forgotten, but..." She pauses and looks over to Junkrat and Roadhog who were loading their plates to the brim at the buffet. "When you feel like you're ready... I do think you should apologize to the two of them. I think it would mean a lot hearing it..."

Mei frowns and Zarya rests her arm around her.

"Da... we both have misjudged the junkers..." Zarya sighs. "We have judged them too hard. Despite their... _strangeness_... they have really made an effort to be part of the team."

Zarya and Ashlyn exchange smiles for a moment, before Zarya's curls up into a playful smirk. "The skinny one has had no trouble befriending you, Yasen'."

Ashlyn blushes and laughs nervously. "Oh yeah?"

"Oh!" Zarya snaps her fingers just as something came back to her. "Before I forget. Mei tells me that you are in need of a personal trainer!" She smiles widely.

Ashlyn shrugs. "I was really sore after training with Soldier... and I wanted some tips on how to be more... prepared? Maybe?" She asks sheepishly.

"I can do this for you!" Zarya jabs a thumb into her chest proudly. "I show you all that I know. You will be blasting through that course in no time! If I know old 76, he'll be wanting you to start up the real training soon. So!" Zarya places a firm hand on Ashlyn's shoulder, nearly knocking her off balance. "Starting tomorrow, you and I train together! Sounds good, yes?"

Ashlyn nods slowly. "Yeah!" She gives her a shaky thumbs up. "Thanks! I mean it... I'll really need the help."

"Not a problem. Now, how about dinner? I'm famished." With that Zarya and Mei make their farewells and head back to their places at the table next to Reinhardt and Ana. Seamlessly melding back into their conversation.

Just as Zarya had guessed, Soldier was already approaching her. Junkrat and Roadhog were already seated at the table and Junkrat was giving Ashlyn a look of concern. She was worried too. It seemed everyone wanted to talk to her tonight, and she was unsure if she would ever get to eat.

Soldier stops in front of her, resting his hands on his hips, giving off his normal vibe of authority. She was always unsure if she should salute him or not, but she decides it's best not to, in fear of making a fool of herself.

"So," he starts in his gruff voice. " You ready to get some real training tomorrow?"

Ashlyn scoffs. "That wasn't _real_ training the other day?" She chuckles slightly, trailing off sadly as Soldier's expression remained steely. Obviously, he wasn't easily amused.

"Starting this week, you will be doing the course three days a week. Two days will be at the firing range. I want you to start with the training bots asap, so the sooner we get you in shape the better." He said firmly. "I already spoke to Zarya about her wanting to help you train. That's fine with me. So I'll see the two of you bright and early tomorrow, so get some shut eye."

Ashlyn nods and her posture stiffens as he brushes past her. Ashlyn lets out a sigh of relief as she hears his footsteps fade off behind her. She hurries over to the fill up her plate before anyone else decides they need to talk and sits down next to Junkrat. He was sitting alone on one side of the table, as the Tracer, Hana, and Lucio all sat across from him. They always seemed to be sitting all together. Hana and Lucio would be of course, they were dating. At least she assumed they were, but she was too shy to ask. The four greet her as she settles in.

"Didn't think you were gonna make it." Junkrat laughs.

"Me too." Ashlyn sighs digging into her dinner. She looks around for a moment. "Where's Roadhog?" She had seen he and Junkrat together at the buffet, but now he was nowhere to be found.

"Oh!" Junkrat points with his thumb down the table. "He's sittin' by himself again. Likes to read."

"Oh?" Ashlyn looks his direction and just as Junkrat said, he was sitting alone reading a tattered book in silence. "What kind of books does he read."

Junkrat chuckles. "You wouldn't believe me."

Ashlyn purses her lips. "Now I'm really curious..." She grumbles.

_"Romance novels."_ He whispers.

Ashlyn's eyes widen and her mouth falls agape. "No way..." She glances back down to the end of the table again and there it was. A beautiful couple clutched against one another wrapped in satin sheets on the cover. Ashlyn bites her lip, trying desperately to stifle a laugh. "Aww! How sweet!"

"Just don't tell'em I told ya..." Junkrat chortles. "He thinks nobody knows."

Ashlyn makes a zipping motion over her mouth and the two of them chuckle softly together. Junkrat peers up to find Tracer staring at the two of them with a dumb grin on her face. His brows furrowed at her and his laughing ceased as he reaches for his glass. Sipping out of a fairly large straw, he glares at her. Tracer's smile only grows as she waves at him. She knew alright. Bloody snoop. He still wouldn't admit it to himself that he had growing feelings for her... only because he had no idea what those feelings meant.

Ashlyn pauses from taking a bite of her meal and looks between them. "Uh..." She looks to see Junkrat glaring deeply at Tracer and she was only smiling. "Did I miss something?"

Junkrat lowers his drink slowly and deliberately onto the table. "No."

Ashlyn raises a brow and looks between the two again. Something must have happened between them today when she wasn't around. Tracer just sat with a goofy smile on her face staring at the two of them. Her constant gaze made Ashlyn feel slightly uneasy... and embarrassed for some reason. She could feel her face becoming flush again and looks back at her plate, trying desperately to ignore her.

She turns to talk to Hana and Lucio, but they too have been giving them the same look. Smiling and looking at one another before looking between them. Ashlyn sinks down in her seat, wishing she could just slide under the table from their prying eyes.

Why were they looking at us like that!?

The three's looks were making Junkrat uneasy as well. He sipped on the straw in his drink and chews occasionally until his straw made a loud slurping noise. He rose from his seat glaring at the three of them.

"Need more tea..." He mumbles.

Ashlyn watches as he crosses the mess hall, slipping into a small room on the far side. She turns back to her plate and dares not to look up at the trio of eyes, but just as Junkrat leaves, Lucio stands up from the table and follows behind him.

"I'm gonna go see if he needs any help." Lucio calls back.

Ashlyn raises a quizzical brow to Hana. "What is up with everyone today."

Tracer bites her lip and snorts. "Nothing’s up.. why would something be up?"

Ashlyn gives her a blank, unconvincing look. "Mhm..."

\---

Meanwhile, Junkrat had filled his glass and just as he was about to leave, he finds Lucio standing in the doorway with his regular sickening smile that he hated on his face. Junkrat cringes. "What do you want?"

Lucio places his hands on his hips and chuckles. "Nothin!" He walks up to Junkrat and gives him a sly grin. "So... when you gonna ask her out?" He asks bluntly.

"What?" Junkrat asks gruffly.

"Don't play dumb." Lucio snickers. "When you going to ask the new girl out on a date?" He asks again crossing his arms with a confident smile on his face.

Junkrat stands silent staring at Lucio, his brows furrowing into a bewildered expression.

"I know you like her." Lucio continues.

"What did Tracer tell ya!?" Junkrat's brows furrow and points an accusing finger toward Lucio. "Whatever she said it's a lie!"

Lucio burst into laughter and holds his ribs. "Tracer didn't say a word! I can just tell, dude! It's SO obvious!"

Junkrat sneers, and as intimidating as he wants to appear, there was no hiding the equally obvious shift in the color of his face. He growls loudly and starts for the door but Lucio jumps in front of him, blocking the entrance.

"Wait, wait, wait! I'm not here to make fun of you." Lucio pleads. "I-I wanted to help you! I'll help you ask her out!"

Junkrat looms over the short musician, glaring down at him like a predator would its prey. He lets out a gruff sigh and steps back, sipping on his tea. "And what makes you think she'd want to go on any kind of date with me?" He says in a rather melancholy tone. The only sure fact he knew was he was not a ladies man. "I ain't even been on a date before..." He admits. "Girls back home aren't really the 'datin' type, if ya know what I mean." He frowns, sipping sadly on his tea and chewing on a ball of tapioca.

Lucio sighs and rolls his eyes. "You're setting yourself up for failure before you've even asked!" He walks up to Junkrat and rests a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're not a bad guy! Strange as all Hell, but I think she digs that!" He smiles.

Junkrat sneers. "Doubt that."

"She's nice to you, isn't she? You guys seem to have a lot in common." Lucio smiles. "Tracer did tell me you guys were hanging out today. She says you two at the testing range when she was moving equipment from the armory..." He nudges Junkrat with his elbow raising his brows. "She said Ash looked like she was having lots of fun!" He says in a sing-songy tone with a large grin on his face. "Who knows! She might like you too.."

Junkrat frowns. "What else did she see...?" He asks worriedly.

Lucio shrugs. "Just you showing her how to fire your gun... why?"

"No reason." He shakes his head and looks away, taking his straw into his mouth and chewing lightly. She did seem like she was having a good time today... with him of all people. She looked at him like he was any normal bloke... and it made his chest do weird stuff. Maybe they were right. Maybe he did have a thing for her, but it would be ridiculous to think she might have feelings in return. "Are you sure not just graspin' at straws here? She could just be acting like that as to not hurt my feelings..."

Lucio sighs heavily and shrugs again. "To be honest man, I can't be one hundred percent sure. Women are hard to read like that..."

Junkrat frowns. "I'll just make a fool of me self..."

"No, you won't! What's the worst she's gonna say, 'No.'?"

"Yes," Junkrat says matter-of-factly.

Lucio rubs the back of his neck and turns his gaze to the ground. "I know what you're feelin', man. I was terrified to ask Hana..." He chuckles. "Couldn't tell if I was gonna puke or pass out."

Junkrat stares down into his glass, swirling the tapioca balls in circles. "I don't know the first thing about this dating stuff... I mean... if I was sweet on her... which I'm not saying I am!" He sighs. "What would I even say?"

Lucio smiles at him confidently. "I've got a plan."

\---

Hana sighs heavily and stabs at a lump of potatoes with her fork, resting her head in her other hand. "What's taking them so long? It's just tea." She whines.

Ashlyn shrugs. "Must be serious tea business." She chuckles.

Tracer returns to the table after taking her empty plate to the washing station. "Still not back?" She hums looking at the door but her eyes widen and turn to Hana, grabbing her arm. "Wait! Hana, what time is it?"

Hana looks down at her phone and gasps. "Oh no! Our shows gonna start soon!"

Tracer gasps as well and jumps back out of her seat and flashes for the exit. "Common! I'll get the telly ready!"

"Wait for me!" Hana stands quickly gathering up her dirty dishes. "Sorry, Ash! It's an emergency."

Ashlyn laughs and waves her on. "Not a problem. Better go or you'll miss it." She smiles.

"Thanks, Ash! See you later!" She darts off, loudly putting her dirty dishes in the bin and chases after Tracer down the hall.

Ash shakes her head and picks around her plate, contemplating on going up for seconds when she heard the familiar clunking behind her. She looks over her shoulder to see Junkrat and Lucio returning from their tea retrieval mission. Lucio takes the seat across from Ash and Junkrat plops down in the seat he was in before loudly, putting his glass down with a thud. He had this air of stress about him, but Lucio was smiling widely.

Ashlyn attempts to break the awkward silence. "So, how's the tea?"

Junkrat shrugs nonchalantly. "Meh..." He slurps loudly.

She watches as he takes a second to chew on something, peaking her curiosity. "Are you... chewing your tea?"

Junkrat nods. "Yep..." He tilts his glass in her direction letting her peer down into it. "It's Boba tea.."

She tilts her head, giving the glass a weary look as she sees the pearls floating around in the milky mixture. "Never had it..."

Junkrat's eyes widen and his mouth falls open in disbelief. "Never?!" He gasps.

Ash shakes her head giving him a tight smile. "Nope."

He shakes his head and shoves his cup toward her. "Try it! Just... be careful not to choke on the pearls..."

She takes the glass in her hand, giving the liquid another weary look before taking a small sip, being careful not to suck one of the pearls to the back of her throat. The tea itself was pleasantly sweet, but she was startled when a pearl lands on her tongue and chews it with a queer look on her face as Junkrat watches eagerly.

"Well?" He asks.

Swallowing she licks her lips and smiles. "Very nice! It could be sweeter though... and I'd have to get used to the pearls, but other than that I like it!"

Junkrat beams. "I'll have to make you some more sometime! That's the last of that batch, but next time I'll make it sweeter for ya."

Ashlyn grins. "You made this?"

Junkrat nods proudly. "Yes, I did. I get the mixes from a shop on the mainland. You can buy drinks there, but they make it too sweet for me... You'd like it though. They got all different flavors."

A large sly smile grows across Lucio's face and rests his chin in his hand. "You should take her there sometime!"

Junkrat's eyes dart in his direction. If looks could kill...

Ashlyn perks up. "That sounds fun! Unfortunately... with all this training Soldier has planned for me... I don't know how much free time I'll have." She frowns.

Lucio turns to Ashlyn. "Hey, mind if I ask your advice on something?"

Junkrat sinks down in his seat and chews lightly on his straw watching Lucio.

"Sure..." Ashlyn shifts in her seat to face the two of them.

"So..." Lucio starts. "I've been wanting to take Hana on a date to celebrate our anniversary coming up and I really wanna make it special. I thought I could ask you what kind of dates you like to go on to help give me some ideas. You know... a woman's touch?" He asks, shrugging with a pleading smile.

"Oh! Wow... um..." Ashlyn laughs sheepishly. "I'm really not the best person to ask... I'm kind of... vanilla when it comes to dates..."

Junkrat sits quietly watching the two.

"Well, what kind of dates do you like?" Lucio pries.

Ashlyn bounces her leg anxiously. "Wow.. putting me on the spot here aren't ya..." She clears her throat. " _Well..._ " She ponders. "I guess if I would describe the perfect date for me for an anniversary it would be a night where it was just the two of us watching a movie at home... order some pizza, making some popcorn and..." She blushes. "C-cuddling..." She looks back at her plate.

Junkrat tilts his head at her. "Cuddle?"

Ashlyn's face burns and shrinks into herself. "Y-yes... cuddle."

Junkrat raises a brow. "What the hell is _cuddling_?"

Ashlyn and Lucio both give him a puzzled expression, like he had lobsters coming out of his ears.

"You don't know what cuddling is?" Ashlyn asks softly and she frowns when she sees Junkrat shake his head. "You've never cuddled? That's... that's so sad."

"What is it...? What's so great about it?" He asks Ashlyn. Judging by her reaction it must be good if it's sad he's never done it. What if it was sexual... he blushes slightly at the thought.

Ashlyn ponders for a moment, trying to find the words to describe the act. "Well, it's kind of luck a really long hug. Two people sitting together or lying together..." She smiles. "Just... holding one another."

Junkrat's eyes narrow and his lip curls into a very confused expression. "Why would anyone want to do that?"

Ashlyn blushes and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "People do it when they care about one another..."

Junkrat swallows hard and looks away slowly, idly stirring his tea.

Ashlyn scoffs. "It's dumb, I know." She covers her face in embarrassment and laughs. "I'm such a sap."

"N-no. it's not dumb." Junkrat says softly clearing his throat.

Ashlyn smiles behind her hands and looks over at him. He was still facing away, but she could notice the pink on the tip of his ears.  
  
Lucio grins widely at the two of them and hops up from his seat. "Thanks, Ash! That really helped a lot! I'll have to go download Hana's favorite movie!" He makes his way around the table, patting the two on the back and chuckles. "Night y’all!" He departs, leaving the two sitting alone in silence.

Junkrat lets out an exasperated sigh and finally gets enough courage to peek over at Ashlyn out of the corner of his eye. She was smiling, and when she turns to him with that same sweet smile on her face his heart skips a beat. He turns away quickly pretending to rub his nose with the back of his hand, his brows furrowing. "Ugh! What does she make me feel like this?!"

Ashlyn gathers her dirty dishes and rises from her seat. "Well... I've got to get up early in the morning, but I'm not tired yet." She starts.

Junkrat turns back to her and watches point at his plate.

"Are you done with that? I can take it up for you." She asks politely.

"Ah, no. I got it." He says, grabbing the plate and standing quickly. "So what'cha gonna do if ya can't sleep?"

Ash and Junkrat drop off their dishes and head out of the mess hall. "Well... I was thinking I'd go for a walk. I hadn't had a good chance to go look at the ocean, so I think it's about time I go sit and watch it for a while."

Junkrat grins. "I know a good spot to do just that."

\---

Once outside the two of them cross the hangar to a flight of stairs leading to the roof of Junkrat's shop followed by another set of stairs leading an even taller building. Once there, Ashlyn's hair whips through a sudden breeze of sea air. Tucking her bangs behind her ear she looks out into the distance and gasps softly. Miles and miles of open ocean sparkling under the full moon like a blanket of diamonds. She had never seen anything more beautiful in her entire life.

Junkrat steps over to the edge and takes a seat, dangling his legs over the edge. He looks up at Ash and pats the spot next to him. Ashlyn smiles and maneuvers herself carefully to take the seat next to him. She sighs happily and stares back at the view, resting her hands on her lap.

"What'cha think?" Junkrat asks eagerly.

Ashlyn smiles widely, her eyes closing and takes in a deep breath of ocean air. "It's beautiful." She says softly.

Junkrat watches her bangs tousle in the wind. The moon gently caressing the soft features of her face and her eyes sparkling. The corner of his mouth turns up into a small smile as his chest made that floaty feeling again. "Yeah... beautiful..." He whispers.

"What a perfect spot." She sighs.

"Sure is." He looks back at the ocean and kicks his legs slightly. "I come up here to think." He rests back on his hands smiling.

Ashlyn nods. "It's a perfect place to think. I'm gonna have to bring a sketchbook up here sometime."

"Ooh! I'd like to see your drawings sometime!"

Ashlyn laughs. "You already have!"

"What?" Junkrat tilts his head.

"I'm covered in them." She giggles.

Junkrat's eyes widen. "Really!? You drew them all?"

"Well, I didn't tattoo myself, but yes... I designed ninety percent of my tattoos."

"Impressive! You're really talented, Firebug!"

"Thank you." Ashlyn smiles widely at him. He was smiling back and it made her feel a way she hadn't in a long time. Her cheeks flush and she looks away nervously.

The two sit quietly for a while, just relaxing and listening to the ocean beat against the cliff walls below them. Ashlyn thinks back on what Junkrat had said about not cuddling. She couldn't imagine anyone never cuddling before, but I guess he wouldn't have. The Outback was almost another world compared to hers. She frowns a little thinking of how lonely it must have been.

Junkrat sits up to look at her face after noticing her smile had faded. "What's wrong?"

Ashlyn chuckles sheepishly. "Oh, nothing... just..." She shakes her head and shrugs. "I just can't get over the fact you've never cuddled. Not once..."

"So?"

She sighs. "It just seems sad to me, that's all."

"I'm alright. I lived."

She chuckles. "I suppose you're right."

Junkrat taps his mechanical fingers against the concrete of the roof and ponders. "So uh... who'd you cuddle with?"

Ashlyn scoffs slightly. "My ex. I was with him for four years."

Junkrat's eyes widen. "Four years? Wow… guess that's a lot of cuddlin'..."

She frowns. "Not really."

"Why not? Didn't you like him?" Junkrat rests his arms on his knees to see her better. She was starting to look sad and now he was regretting asking her.

"I did like him... a lot. He just didn't feel the same way after a while..." She looks out on the ocean with sad eyes as Junkrat sits quietly and listens. "I wanted to marry him..."

Junkrat's eyes widen. "Wow... marriage?"

"Never got the chance...we were engaged for a while, but... when I went to visit my mom... he..." Her voice cracks and she sighs deeply. She takes a moment to gather herself. "I found out from a friend he had cheated on me when I was gone."

Junkrat pauses for a moment feeling a small flame burning in the back of his mind. He grinds his teeth together and scowls. "He what?"

"He had sex with a co-worker at a party when I was at my mom's... my friend was there and walked in on them."

"Where's he live?" Junkrat growls. "I think I might send him a package if you know what I mean..." His hand clenches into a fist.

Ashlyn turns, seeing the anger in his face she tries to give him a forced smile to help reassure him. "I promise you he is not worth the money you'd spend on postage."

He narrows his eyes at her and grumbles. "If you say so... if you change your mind let me know."

Ashlyn giggles. "I will." She gives him a smile, a real smile this time.

"Nice girl like you... don't deserve to be treated like that..." He mutters.

Ashlyn blushes and wrings her hands. "I appreciate that..." She bites her lip and leans into him briefly and looks away. "You know... you're really sweet. In your own way... but sweet. Thank you."

Junkrat blushes deeply and rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Y-you're welcome." He laughs. "Ain't nobody called me sweet before."

She crosses her feet and giggles. "There's a first for everything I guess..." She stares up at the night sky and hums.

The two sit and talk for what felt like hours. The moon was highest in the sky and after a while, Ashlyn could feel herself getting groggy again. She covers her mouth and yawns loudly. "Mm... I think it's time for me to call it a night. Soldier going to have me working at the crack of dawn." She stands up, extending a hand to Junkrat.

Junkrat takes her hand and she helps him up from his perch. The joint of his knee creaking loudly. "I'm feelin' pretty zonked myself." He rocks on his heel. "Need some company walkin' back?"

She giggles. "Considering your room is across from mine, we're heading the same direction anyway."

Junkrat laughs nervously. "Oh yeah! I knew that."

She and Junkrat make their way back to the ground floor and cross the hangar. Chatting as they stroll through the halls, the two of them make it to their rooms. Ashlyn scans her hand, punches in her code and the door opens. Before entering she turns back to Junkrat. "Thanks for everything today, Junkrat. It was fun."

Junkrat grins and pushes his hands in his pockets. "Ah, it's was nothin'. You let me know if you want to blow anything up again. I got that barricade fixed up and it's ready to take a beatin'."

Smiling sweetly she nods. "Sounds like a plan. It was too much fun to not do it again!"

Junkrat gives her a wide toothy grin. "I think I created a monster!"

"Oh well." She shrugs and looks back into her room. "Well... I better try to get some sleep."

He nods and backs towards his own bedroom door. "I won't keep ya. Sleep tight, Firebug."

"Night, Junkrat." She turns back and waves. He smiles and waves back. Her stomach flutters at that big grin of his. His sharp features and those adorable freckles, she was starting to find him incredibly handsome. Once the door closes behind her, she leans against it sighing deeply. She crosses her room and jumps into her bed. She presses her head into a pillow, she couldn't wipe off the silly grin on her face no matter what she did. As much as she had denied it before... and how hard she fought it... Colleague or not, she has feelings for this strange, wild, and dangerously handsome man. She was alright with that. She closes her eyes and sighs softly and drifts off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Zarya calls Ashlyn "Yasen'" meaning "Ash")
> 
> SORRY FOR THE WAIT Y'ALL! I was visiting my family for my cousin's graduation and I wrote what I could when I was there...
> 
> THAT AND I WAS SO EMBARRASSED TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER! >////<
> 
> (I hope you like it. owo)


	10. "What j-just happened?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashlyn's training is in full swing and she's showing real promise, but hitting some real snags! No worries, Winston and Junkrat have been at work to help her!
> 
> (Sorry for the delay!)  
> I kind of hit a snag myself and had a slight dose of writer's block. Only for this chapter though! I was a little overexcited to write a different part that'll come later. I had so much more planned for this chapter, but I ended up writing so much I had to separate it into three chapters! I still have to write chapter 11, but 12 is already finished so they'll be posted at the same time! And I may have some plans to add some drawings to the next couple of chapters too. No guarantees that they'll be in every chapter, but I have a few planned for the next chapter couple of chapters for sure!
> 
>  
> 
> Like what you see? Wanna help support more chapters? Buy me a coffee!  
> http://ko-fi.com/blizzieneko

Weeks go by, Soldier and Zarya are training Ashlyn harder than ever. Ashlyn isn't nearly as brawny as Zarya, but she is definitely faster. All the endurance training had helped her, now she can maneuver the obstacle course without hardly breaking a sweat. Eventually, McCree had given up on training her once Ana arrived, she took Ashlyn under her wing. Ana was equally hard on her as Soldier, but in a motherly sort of way, pushing her to improve her aim. Ana had also been teaching Ashlyn some basic hand to hand combat to defend herself if she would ever be disarmed or out of fuel in her prosthetic. Being unprepared for what would possibly be a life or death situation was the last thing she wanted. Ashlyn was happy to take all the help she could get.

 

Her first week of bot training was no walk in the park. She thought she was sore after the obstacle course? She had more bruises she could count, muscle aches so bad she could barely move, and every time she felt like she was getting the hang of it 76 would up the difficulty on the bots every week for four weeks.

 

Monday again, Soldier would up the difficulty for sure. Ash stands in front of the large hangar door to the training grounds stretching the same way Zarya had taught her to do before each match. Angela and Winston are sitting in front of a series of large monitors per usual as Winston types away at his monitor prepping to record today's round. He and Angela had been sitting in on her sessions for weeks now, tracking her progress and vital signs during each round with the bots to keep track of her progress. Angela left all of the technical work to Winston and helped when she could, but her true concern is Ashlyn's safety. That and making sure Soldier doesn't push her too hard. She knows he means well, but Angela could never manage to get him to realize his limits differ from others.

 

"Well, we're all ready to go here, Jack..." Winston says giving 76 and Ashlyn a thumbs up.

 

"Did you boost the difficulty?" 76 asks.

 

Winston nods. "Of course."

 

76 only nods and gives a gruff sound of acknowledgment as he turns to Ashlyn. "Alright, kid. You ready?"

 

Ashlyn takes a deep breath and unholsters her pistol and her eyes dart to Soldier. She gives him a brisk nod as she flips off the safety. Soldier signals to Winston, a few taps on the keyboard and the door opens in front of her.

 

Just as the hissing of the doors ceases she darts forward. Two strides out in the open and red streaks are already whizzing by her head. She slides into the nearest cover and looks up at the wall. The surface was made of a shiny metal paneling, it had a plenty of wear and tear, but she would use it to her advantage to get a feel of her surroundings before going out into the open again. Today was different, she scoffs in frustration when she's met with a large old brown tarp draped over the wall. Her eyes dart back over at Soldier. The doors were already shutting again, but through the small sliver of an opening, she could see a smug smile plastered on his face. He had caught onto her little trick.

 

_ "Great. Thanks, you old fart." _ She grumbles under her breath.

 

Ashlyn scoots along the wall and peeks her head around the corner, but whips it back in just as another volley of bullets whiz by. There was more this time. Four bots were moving in formation. She spins around onto her knees and readies herself. After a deep breath, she raises from her cover and takes aim on the first one she sees. Her long hours with Ana were paying off. Two bullets into the chest and head, the bot rattles and falls to a smoking heap on the ground. She manages to get another shot on a second bot, but he ducks behind cover as the third retaliates by firing back.

 

Ashlyn darts for another place to hide. A pillar just wide enough to hide her form. She grits her teeth, growling to herself. "Awesome. They use cover now." She sighs. "but so will Talon." She reminds herself.

 

Ash darts for cover again, all the while assessing the bots, She slides behind a large metal shipping container and takes a second to calculate her next move. From what she could tell, they were staying as a group, so she decides to exploit it. Occasionally, Soldier and Ana would go out and add different obstacles to the field and other objects the trainee could use to their advantage against the bots. Ash had only seen a few changes in the past week, but she could see something strange above the bots as she passed by. She looks above, a large net filled with old training bots were hanging just above the last three bots. She peers out for a brief moment and makes a decision. 

 

Standing up she gets out from behind cover and shoots at the chains attaching the net to the ceiling. She hisses as a bullet grazes her waist, breaking the skin. She had to be quick, the bullets were actually hurting this time around and the bots were starting to move out of position. The chains moan as they start to snap apart under the weight of the scrapped bots, giving way they drop down loudly on the active ones. Their gears hissing and groaning as try to move. Ashlyn runs up cautiously and fires the killing blow on each moving head. Ashlyn smiles as the smoke wafts in her direction, taking in a deep breath of it, she releases her empty clip and slides in a fresh one.

 

Ash hugs the wall peering around the corner. She groans softly when she sees a large group of bots pacing in different directions. The group was nearly doubled from last week, but she had a plan to change the odds to her favor. She ducks into an adjacent room and quietly takes a set of stairs, gun ready. At the top, she drops down low and assesses the room from the open walkway. They were even more dispersed than before. She chews on her lip a moment thinking of her options. She spots a large scrap of metal from a bot destroyed last week and takes it firmly in her hand. Pondering for a few seconds she looks back into the room.

 

_ "Fuck it." _ She whispers as she throws the large scrap of metal against the far wall.

 

Surprisingly enough, nearly half of the bots are alerted and start to turn in the direction of the noise, grouping up like a flock of sheep. A large grin spreads across her face as she unclips two fuel cartridges. For a group that large, she's going to need a lot of juice. Again, she draws back and tosses one canister into the large group and then the other. Their heads start whipping around in confusion beeping and whirring their gears loudly. Ashlyn takes aim at a bot she deems the most covered in fuel and fires two shots into its head. With a loud pop and hiss, the head bursts into pieces. The sparks emitted from it quickly ignite the accelerant on itself and it spreads quickly with a loud  _ WOOSH _ .

 

As the flames consume the bots, they overheat and start bursting like party favors. One by one they explode into tiny pieces or fall into flaming heaps to the ground. All the while Ashlyn's smile grows into a wicked grin and her chest wells with adrenaline as she marvels over work of art.  _ "Prettier than the fireworks on the Fourth of July." _ She mewls.

 

Her joy is short-lived as a torrent of bullets screams past her head. She had raised out of cover to get a better view of the carnage and didn't realize. She ducks and crawls on her stomach across the walkway chuckling to herself. 

 

_ Almost forgot about them... have to tell Junkrat about that one.. Wonder if Winston can give me a copy of the recorded footage? _

 

Once across the only place left to go is down. She slips off the edge of the balcony and hangs freely before dropping down to safety. Dashing out behind cover she runs in the direction of the exit. If she could get there and push the button in time, the bots will deactivate. A bullet grazes her cheek and she ducks into a nearby room. She huffs and looks around.

 

_ Shit! _

 

The room she had entered was the only room in the course with only one way in and one way out. She spins to look behind her as the bots chattering and rattling closing in. She ducks behind a metal desk and flips it onto its side, hunching behind it. She sits as quietly as possible, carefully listening for the bots as they enter the room. 

 

_ FUCK! _

 

\---

 

Meanwhile, Junkrat pokes his head in through the office door and sees Winston, Soldier, and Angela sitting at the monitors, watching intently. He coughs softly to grab their attention and lets himself in. "G'day..." He walks across the room, standing next to Angela.

 

Soldier sighs and crosses his arms, not taking his eyes off of the screen. "You're not supposed to be in here, Fawkes. I've told you a hundred times..." He grumbles.

 

"I know." Junkrat shrugs. "She still workin'?" He asks Angela.

 

Angela nods. "Yes, Jamison. From the looks of it, she's just about through, but she's hit a bit of a snag." She points briefly with her pen after jotting down a few notes.

 

Junkrat's brows furrow and he turns his attention to the screen. Ash was hiding behind a desk in a room full of bots. Surrounded and alone. He clenches his teeth and turns his body toward the entrance of the course and taking a few steps but Winston's hand reaches back and presses against his chest.

 

"Calm down." Winston chuckles. "She'll surprise you."

 

Junkrat growls and backs up slowly. He shoves his hands in his pockets and  stands behind Angela, looking back to the screen.

 

\---

 

Ash hears the bots entering the room one by one. If she remembered correctly, there were three left last time she checked. There's still more ahead, but she had to make it out of this room first. They clink and clank against each other as they fill up the room, their shadows casting against the wall in front of her, she could see they're just inches away from seeing her. 

 

_ Now or never. _

 

Taking a deep breath, Ash stands, turning with her arm in their direction, palm first. She blasts flames into the faces of the bots just behind the desk, causing them to back away in confusion against the one behind them. She takes this as an opportunity to run. Dashing out of the door, she smashes a fuel canister behind her and sets it ablaze. One bot fires wildly around the room. Blasting the walls and the other two bots beside it. From the looks of it, Ash must have damaged their vision and motion sensors with the heat and it was now attacking it's fellow bots. She raises her gun fires the killing blows on the last three. She rests her back against the wall, panting heavily, she takes a moment to catch her breath.

 

_ Almost done. One more push. _

 

\---

 

Junkrat cheers. "Wooh! Go Firebug!"

 

Soldier winces at his shrill voice and glares over his shoulder. "Fawkes! Volume!"

 

Junkrat grins. "Sorry, mate!"

 

Winston chuckles and gives Junkrat a confident smile. "I told you. She's crafty."

 

"Too right! She really gave it to those bots." Junkrat cackles.

 

Angela puts a finger over her mouth and shushed the three men. "She's not done yet."

 

\---

 

After gathering her composure, she slides against the wall, peering past a large pillar. She can see two bots in the next section, but she knows there's bound to be more. Darting to the pillar, she presses her back against it. She knows where the exit is, but she's unsure where the new bots could be. This part was a maze of pillars and boxes and she's low on fuel and low on bullets. If she's gonna finish this match, she had to get to the kill switch.

 

She peeks her head around the pillar to assess her surroundings. She hisses under her breath when she finds most of the boxes gone. The small glimmer of hope she had to sneak past the bots is crushed, now the only things to hide behind were the very few large pillars. She can see the switch and it's a short sprint away, but between here and the exit is nearly Ten bots moving around idly.

 

She chews her lip and weighs her options. If she runs without cover, they'll pelt her with bullets. Not lethal, but trying to put her mind set into a real life situation, it would be a death sentence.

 

_ Maybe... _

 

Peeking her head out again on either side, looking to the ceiling. There it was, the nitch she needed. Like at the beginning, another net of scrapped bots hanging above them. This time she didn't have anything to throw to distract them. Tossing one of the very few fuel canisters she had left would be a waste without a spark or a flame. She gropes her pockets.

 

_ One more clip left. Maybe I can... _

 

Ash slides out the clip in her gun. Two shots left and one more clip left. She replaces the near empty clip with the one that's full. Pulling out a canister, she opens it, coating the clip in fuel.

 

_ Forget the ceiling trap... this fuel burns fast and hot... if I can toss it in the opposite direction of where I want to go and the bullets get hot enough... The go off and make enough noise to distract those bots! Then I'm home free! _

 

Her eyes narrow.

 

_ If it doesn't work on all of them, I'm going to have to make a wall between them and me... _

 

She holsters her gun and pockets the lid to the already opened fuel canister. Carefully coming out of cover, the valve in her palm opens and sparks, igniting clip in her hand and tosses it across the room. It clatters to the ground, still burning. Two bots closest to it move to investigate. She watches behind the pillar, hopeful her plan would work out. And after a short time, the bullets explode with two loud pops. Ash grins when all bots in the area beep and chatter, fully alerted to the noise and turn toward the explosion. Some move to investigate, two or three stay behind but are still facing away.

 

Taking full advantage of this opening, Ash dashes across the room to the adjacent wall trailing her fuel behind her. Once at the wall she ignites the fuel, spreading across the floor making a flaming wall between her and the bots. Unfortunately in her urgency to move, she had spilled some of the fuel on herself, and her leg catches fire along with it. Hissing in pain she dashes for the kill switch, not bothering to put herself out. Taking the time to put out the fire would give the bots the opportunity to gun her down and being so close she couldn't risk it.

 

\---

 

Angela gasps and rises from her seat. "She's done it again!"

 

Junkrat's brows furrow into a worried expression. "Again? Did what?!"

 

Soldier sighs. "5th time this month she's caught herself on fire."  He points up to the monitor. "She catches fire more than you do."

 

Angela grimaces. "She's limping... it's a bad one. The other ones were minor but it looks like it's the whole calf this time."

 

"She's gonna be alright, ain't she?" Junkrat asks, his voice trembling a bit.

 

"Of course. I'll patch her up good as new..." Angela reassures him.

 

Winston adjusts his glasses. "I've almost finished the final version of her fireproof suit, but it'll still be a week or so before it's completed. Not to mention we have to take it on a test run. We'll probably go through another training session like this one."

 

Junkrat turns his attention back to the monitor. "She's nearly done ain't she? Why isn't she puttin' her leg out?"

 

"To save time." Soldier says bluntly. "If she gets to the switch in time, she won't have to fight the last of the bots."

 

"If anything else happens I'm going down there and scrappin' them myself!" Junkrat growls.

 

"She'll be fine." Soldier adds. "Just look, she's nearly there."

 

\---

 

Ash trots across the last of the field as fast as she can. They must have seen her by now, she was taking on fire again. Pushing through the pain, Ash burst into a full jog and slams into the wall next to the switch and slams her fist into it.

 

_ "Simulation Terminated." _

 

She pants heavily and slides down the wall to her knees and pats down her leg, putting what was left of the fire out. Her flesh was raw and gooey underneath the charred fabric. The doors to the elevator slide open behind her.

 

_ "Move quickly, Ashlyn. Let's tend to your wounds."  _ Angela's voice called from the overhead speaker.

 

Ashlyn pants and pulls herself to her feet. "Alright, doc... I'm comin'.” Bracing against the door frame, she hobbles in the elevator and hits the call button, shutting the doors.

 

At the top, she's greeted by Angela with a pacing Junkrat behind her. When he catches sight of her, he gallops over to Angela's side.

 

"You alright, Firebug! Saw ya get one hell of a burn? Can you walk? Need me to carry ya?" He rambles on as Ash wraps her arm around Angela's shoulder.

 

Angela leads her to a chair and sets her down to go retrieve her Caduceus and Junkrat hurries to her side.

 

"You okay? Need me to scrap them bots for ya? Because I'll do it in a heart beat! Just say the word and I'll-"

 

Ash raises a hand stopping him. "Jamie, I'm fine. Promise." She smiles when his face softens in relief. "Thank you."

 

The day after that night on the roof, Junkrat had asked her to call him Jamison from now on. She shortened it and had been calling him Jamie since then. It felt weird for her to call him that like he was just any normal bloke. The name he'd been given before he became the deranged Junkrat, but in some ways she made him feel like a normal bloke. She never treated him like he was one of his own bombs, ready to blow at any second. She treated him like a normal human being. Like the man he was supposed to be. But when he heard his real name in that sweet little voice of hers, it made him grin, ears burn... and she always smiled back giving him that strange flip floppy feeling in his stomach.

 

Ashlyn was surprised when he had asked her to call him by his true name. The first time she called him that around the others, they looked equally surprised. Mei and Angela called him Jamison... even Roadhog occasionally called him Jamison, even if it meant that he was in hot water, but why was it strange thats he would call him by his real name. She wasn't fighting the fact that she had the slightest crush on Junkrat, but it wasn't like she was obvious about it. When she would call him Jamie, Tracer would grin and giggle to herself. Hana did just about the same thing. Maybe they saw something she didn't? He was nice and all... but he couldn't really reciprocate her feelings... could he?

After hearing his name, Junkrat grinned as he always did and the two of them blushed and looked away shyly.

 

Soldier groans out loud, rubbing his forehead. "What did you need, Fawkes?" He grumbles.

 

"Oh! I had somethin' I wanted to show Firebug after trainin', but it can wait." He grins down at her. "It'll be quite a treat! You meet me at the shop once doc fixes ya up, eh?"

 

Ash nods. "I'll be there." 

 

Junkrat smiles widely and bounds to the door and opening it. He gives her a brisk wave goodbye before slipping out, closing the door with a loud thud behind him.

 

Angela pulls up a chair next to Ashlyn shaking her head.  _ "That boy is hopeless..."  _ She mutters while waving her Caduceus over her leg.

 

Like so many times before, the beam trails down to her leg, engulfing it in its heavenly glow, giving off a tingling sensation before all pain ceased and the skin closes over the open wounds. She continued to move over Ash's body to the other various burns from stray bullets on her side and face.

 

"There my dear, you're good to go." She says with a smile as she stands. She props her Caduceus against the desk and crosses her arms. She gives Ashlyn a stern look. "Now, whatever Mr. Fawkes has in store for you, I doubt it's not going to explode. Do take extra caution. I don't want another incident..."

 

Ash laughs sheepishly.

 

Angela taps her bottom lip with her forefinger. "Just as a precaution, I'm going to send Lucio down there with you... you know... just in case."

 

"He's not _ that  _ bad..." Ashlyn says standing and dusting off her clothes. "The last time was a complete accident and could have happened to anyone..."

 

Angela sighs and drops her head in defeat.  _ "Sometimes I don't know why I even bother." _ She rubs her temples and brushes her hair from her face. "Look, just... be careful, okay? For my sanity at least. I swear you and Mr. Fawkes will be the death of me..."

 

"Yes ma'am," Ashlyn says in an apologetic tone and slowly moves for the door. She looks over to Soldier and Winston. "So... am I free to go for today?"

 

They look at one another for a moment. Winston nods with a smile but Soldier keeps a stern look on his face.

 

"You go ahead, Ashlyn. I think that you earned yourself some time off. It'll take a few weeks for me to have your suit ready for you... and with the holiday coming up, I'm sure you'd like to go find something to wear for the party!" Winston chuckles happily.

 

"I never said anything about time off..." Soldier grumbles under his breath, glaring down at the large scientist.

 

"I told him he could." Angela says firmly. 

 

76 frowns and puts his palm to his forehead and runs it down his face. "Fine, but after the holiday it's back to work. Understood?"

 

"Yes, sir!" She smiles but her brows knit for a second and tilts her head at Winston. "Wait... what holiday?"

 

"You don't know what month it is?" Winston says in slight disbelief.

 

Ashlyn shakes her head slowly.

 

Winston laughs. "It's October. Halloween is in two weeks! We always have a little get together on base to loosen up and have some fun! Some of the team even dresses up! It boosts morale for the team!" He smiles. "You should ask one of the team if they'd take you to find  you a costume to wear on the mainland!"

 

"Wow..." She chuckles wearing a half smile. "That time of year already? Time sure does fly..."

 

The room falls silent for a moment and Angela gives Ashlyn a worried look. To avoid being questioned Ashlyn rushes to the door.

 

"Sounds like a blast!" She opens the door. "I'll be sure to ask around... Junkrat's probably worried by now... better go before he sends a search party... See ya!" She darts out of the room and closes the door behind her.

 

_ Already that time again... _

 

Ashlyn was lost in her thoughts crossing base to Junkrat's little home away from home. He had said he had a surprise for her and Angela was right. It would probably explode, and just as she promised Lucio floats up behind her on his skates. His speakers lightly playing one of his songs and he bobs along as he skates beside her.

 

"Hey there, Ash! Headed to Junkman's?" He says in his usual chipper tone.

 

Ashlyn nods.

 

"Doctor Ziegler says he has a surprise... and she kinda sent me to.. chaperone." He admits, chuckling nervously. "Hope you don't mind."

 

"Did she tell you what happened last time?" Ashlyn sighs.

 

"Yeaaah... Just... don't tell Junkrat I know...k? Our secret?" He pleads.

 

She gives him a skeptical look. "You know as soon as he sees you, he's gonna figure it out."

 

Lucio groans sadly. "I know! He's gonna kill me..."

 

"I won't let'em..." She teases.

 

"Promise?"

 

She crosses an 'x' over her heart. "I promise."

 

\---

 

Ash knocks on the frame of the door to Junkrat's shop. "Hello? Anyone home?" She peeks her head in after she hears a clattering and things being thrown about.

 

"Wait right there!" Junkrat squawks and whips around at his bench, clearly hiding something behind his back. "Okay... now you can come in." He says with a large grin on his face as she enters, but it melts into a sinister scowl when she sees Lucio poke his head in behind her. "What.. is he doing here?"

 

Ash looks back at Lucio. "He wanted to see what the fuss was about." She lied.

 

Junkrat growls under his breath and glares back at the tiny d.j. "Doc sent'cha didn't she, and you know why..." His eyes narrow into a glare. "We discussed that it was an accident and it ain't happenin' again. So you better scamper off or I'm gonna make frog legs out of ya... capiche?"

 

Ash puts her hands on her hips and pursed her lips at Junkrat. "Hey now. None of that. He doesn't mean any harm and I say he can come." She crosses her arms and raises a brow at Junkrat. "Capiche?"

 

Junkrat hunches over and groans. "Fine! But you are to be seen and not heard!"

 

"Jamie." She snapped. "Be nice, or I will not look at the surprise." She huffed.

 

Junkrat frowned, whimpering a little. "F-fine..." He grumbled ushering Lucio in.

 

"So... what's the big surprise?" Ashlyn starts, smiling widely.

 

Junkrat frown stretches into a large toothy grin and he chuckles giddily. "Okay, okay! Firstly..." He clears his throat and stands up straight. "I've been sittin' in on some of your trainin' and Winston has asked me to come up with a few ideas to help you out there with them bots and out in a real fight. He tells me you've been havin' a few snags here and there with not bein' able to light things from a distance and bein' vulnerable in the open. So-" He struts up to her and holds out one hand with a device, no bigger than a soda can. "I give you, the smoke bomb!" He cackles. "Remember that mishap I had here in the shop a while back? I used that same design, but made it more compact just for you."

 

Ashlyn's eyes widen and she gently takes it from his hand. She examines it closely in awe. "Really? For me?"

 

Junkrat nods proudly he points to a red lever on one the top. "You flip that and give it a toss and presto! You got yourself some instant cover! But that's not all!" He chimes. "Ape-face and I are makin' you some special goggles to wear with thermal vision so you can see them, but they can't see you! Neat, eh!?"

 

Ashlyn grin spreads ear to ear. "No way! That's fucking sweet!"

 

Junkrat trails off. "buuuuut.... it ain't strong enough to see through walls and shit, but It'll see through smoke just fine!"

 

"Fair enough! I'll feel so much safer with this now... thank you!" She says holding it to her chest smiling up at him.

 

He chuckles. "Oh! You thought that was all?!" He waves his finger and swings his other hand around from his back, opening it to reveal another small device. It was smaller and more slender than the smoke bomb, but this one had a clear tube filled with the same golden liquid as her fuel encased in metal and a small mechanism on top.

 

"Wait... is that... fuel from my canisters?" She asks taking it from his hand looking over it carefully.

 

"You bet! Me and Ape-face made some more of it and put'em into these here tubes!" He taps his finger on the mechanism. "This here is your new source of firepower! No more usein' up precious fuel for your flame arm! Best of all, these babies can blow by themselves. Designed by yours truly." He bows in a showy matter, clearly proud of himself.

 

Ashlyn gasps. "Really!? They light themselves! Sweet!" Her eyes glisten looking down at the two devices. "You're amazing, Jamie! Thank you!"

 

"Don't thank me yet." He says in a low tone and grinning maniacally. "You haven't seen it work yet." He leads her outside and stops her just as they reach the edge of the cliff with the open ocean down below. He reaches over and takes the smoke bomb from her hand and pockets it for a moment and brings her focus to the second device. 

 

"Roight... so..." He points to a small switch on the side. "This is the safety... so it doesn't go off on you while your wearin' it or it get's broken for some reason." He flips the safety off and points to the flip switch on the top. "Flip this baby, give'er a toss. The glass'll break or if you throw it from a height this and it doesn't shatter, the timer inside will do the rest! When the timer goes off, it'll set this baby off like a roman candle!!" He twitches and laughs maniacally as he moves behind Ash.

 

"Alright, Firebug. Let'er rip!"

 

Ash turns to Junkrat. "So... I just throw it out there?"

 

Junkrat nods eagerly with a large toothy grin sprawled across his face.

 

Ash shrugs and flips the switch. She rears back and tosses the device out as hard as she can. The device tumbles down for a few seconds, then blasts into a ball of flaming glory. Even from that small device, she could feel the heat off of the blast. Her eyes widen and she can hear her heart beating widely in her ears. She stands silent for a few moments as Junkrat howls in delight behind her. She grins widely and turns to the two men. Lucio looked mortified, but Junkrat's smile was wider than before.

 

"What did you think!? You like it?!"

 

"Like it!?” She scoffs bringing a hand to her head, brushing her bangs from her face laughing. "I fucking LOVE IT! It's the most beautiful fucking thing I've ever seen in my whole fucking life!!"

 

She runs straight up to Junkrat leaping into him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck knocking him back slightly. Lucio dodges out of the way in fear the two may fall on top of him. Junkrat's eyes widen and put his hand out to brace the two of them before falling into the wall behind them.

 

"You're a genius! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She drops down after letting go of his neck and takes both hands and grabs him firmly behind his head. She pulls his face to her planting a kiss on his cheek before bouncing away to look at the flames still floating on the waves below.

 

Lucio's jaw drops and looks over at Junkrat who has frozen solid. His eyes were as big as softballs and his face was as red as Ash's hair. Lucio smirks. "Oooooh~ Junkmaaaan!" He whispers even though Ashlyn was still going on about how 'beautiful’ the explosion was. At this point, she was talking to herself in her own excitement.

 

"What j-just happened?" Junkrat mutters back.

 

"You just got a kiss, my man!" Lucio lets out a laugh, more like a squeak, then elbows him in the arm. "Nice one!"

 

Junkrat slowly raises his hand to his cheek and the corner of his mouth curls up into a little grin. "Yeah... nice one..."

 

Ash puts her hands on her hips. "We need to do something! Celebrate! I'm too excited to just sit around and do nothing now!" She bounces giddily.

 

Lucio grins. "What about that tea shop, you were talkin' about Junkrat? It's barely noon and most of the shops are open today. It's only a short ferry ride away... Hana still wants to go look for a costume for that Halloween party and I'm sure Ash needs one too."

 

Ash nods. "Yeah, I guess I do... and I'd love to see that shop you like so much!" She hurries up to him and tugs on his arm. "I'm getting so cooped up on base... What do you say, Jamie? Will you come with us? It's not boba tea without, Junkrat around."

 

Junkrat laughs sheepishly. "W-well..." He grins. "Why not! Gotta go get my street clothes from Roadie though. I hate wearin' them things, but I will if tea's involved."

 

Lucio nods happily with puts his hands on his hips. "Sounds good! I have to go fetch Hana and change out of my skates. Why don't we all meet up in the lounge when we're ready to go?"

 

Ashlyn nods. "Sounds like a plan. I'd like to freshen up a little before heading out. After that training today, I'd like to wash my hair. I'll walk with Jamie to go get his change of clothes and we'll meet you later."

 

Lucio waves and glides away. "See ya soon!"

 

"Now... Let's go see Roadhog."

 


	11. "Tea time"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash is so stoked about her new toys, she wants to celebrate! Lucio suggests going to the mainland to get some Boba Tea at the shop Junkrat had mentioned before! Before they go, Junkrat's gotta get a change of clothes and take a very queasy ferry ride! Hana drills Ash about her relationship with Junkrat and she picks out her Halloween costume!
> 
> (See notes)

Junkrat sighs and looks down at himself. "Yeah... can't go to the shops lookin' like this..."

 

Ashlyn shrugs. "I suppose walking around without a shirt on would turn some head, and the point is to lay low while we're out right?"

 

"You're right...Turnin' heads of the ladies!" He says with a chuckle, flexing and wiggling his brows down at her comically.

 

Ashlyn blushes and laughs out loud. She covers her mouth when his arms droop defeatedly to his sides and frowns. "I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry!" She pleads, still trying hard to stifle her giggles.

 

"Way to kill a bloke's self-esteem, Firebug..." He says glumly. Slouching as he starts off towards the dorms.

 

"Nooo!" She reaches out and grabs his arm, still struggling to hide her smile. "Don't be like that! I didn't mean to laugh..."

 

His eyes narrow down at her. "Sure you didn't."

 

"I can't help it! When you do the eyebrow wiggle thing I lose it!" She covers her face again. "I can't help but laugh!"

 

Junkrat grins. "Oh, you mean..." He leans in close as she peeks through her fingers. "This?" He waggles his brows and gives her the slyest grin he could muster.

 

 

She lets out an undignified snort before falling into another fit of laughter. "Stahp!" She whimpers pushing away his face as he laughs himself. "Come on, you! Lucio and Hana are probably ready to go by the time we've even made it to Roadhog's room!!" She chuckles, starting off toward the dorms, passing Junkrat by. "Besides, we don't want to keep the ladies waiting do we?"

 

Junkrat's laughter trails off rubs the back of his neck, following close behind. The two of them stayed silent for a while passing through the halls. He nods occasionally to the other members of the team when Ashlyn gives them a polite greeting. At his attempt of a joke, he fears he may just gave her the wrong impression. What if she thinks he's some kind of womanizer? Why did the thought make him worry so much?

 

Meanwhile, Ashlyn can't help but blush at the thought of him flexing and wiggling those ridiculous brows at her. He really hadn't been doing much teasing for a long while now and maybe her ignoring him finally made him lose interest. Part of her wanted to believe he was trying to flirt with her like when she first arrived.

 

She couldn't deny that she found him attractive... his chiseled chest and intense yellow eyes... but most of all she was attracted to his boyish humor and his love for what he does. Even so, for days now she's been contemplating telling him how she feels or showing him in some way... but every time she finds herself being held back by a deeper feeling of fear. He had become her closest friend... and if all he did was only teasing and joking like he always did... she would risk losing that friendship she held so dear.

 

Before they knew it, the two had made it to the elusive junker's domain. Junkrat passes her by with a big smile on his face and knocks hard on the door. "Oi, Roadie! Ya in there?!"

 

There was a loud creaking like he was peeling his large form from a chair or his bed followed by heavy footsteps approaching and the door hisses open. His large form looms in the doorway holding a novel in one hand sighing deeply. He was still wearing his mask, he must have slipped it on before answering the door because his hair was laying loose on his shoulders and he was in a pair of Pachimari printed pajama bottoms. "What?" He asks gruffly.

 

"Still in bed, Roadie? For shame..." Junkrat teased waggling his finger at his large friend.

 

"What do you want, Rat?" Hog says in a deep sinister voice sending a shiver down Ashlyn's spine.

 

_Note to self. Don't pick on Roadhog._

 

"You still got me street clothes? We're going into town today, need anything while you're out?"

 

He shakes his head answers only in a gruff sound from the back of his throat and nods before turning back into his room. He sets his book gently on a small dresser and pulls open the bottom drawer. After a few seconds, he comes back with an arm full of neatly folded clothes, sneakers, a hat,  and two shining new prosthetic limbs. He puts the lot into Junkrat's arms and growls as Junkrat scowls down at the extra limbs.

 

"I don't like wearin' them, Hog..." Junkrat whines, sneering down at them.

 

"Don't care." Hog says with a shrug. He slips back into his room and returns with a jacket placing on the pile of fabric. "Wear that. It's gonna be chilly today."

 

Junkrat groans loudly and pokes out his tongue at Hog childishly walking toward his room. "You ain't my dad."

 

"Good." Hog grunts back as the door hisses shut.

 

Ashlyn follows behind Junkrat with a bewildered expression on her face. It was always interesting to see the two interact with each other. As much as Junkrat seemed to irritate him, he still never stayed mad at him for long... Junkrat had told her that Hog was initially his hired bodyguard... but now it was almost like he had adopted the role as Junkrat's caretaker or guardian, like an uncle.

 

Ashlyn scans her hand and adds in her code for her door and it slides open, but she turns to hear Junkrat struggling to open his. He was juggling the large pile in his hands as he tries to maneuver his flesh hand to his scanner.

 

"You can just change in here if you want."

 

"Wot?" He says nervously, nearly dropping all the items in his arms. "I c-can't change in there! That's your room! Besides, you gotta change too remember! We can't do that at the s-same time..."

 

Ashlyn laughs entering her room. "I still have to shower..." She starts as she goes through her closet gathering her own change of clothes as Junkrat follows in hesitantly and jumps when the door shuts behind him. "You can change while I'm in the bath. And before you mention it, no you can't scrub my back." She says walking into the bathroom closing the door behind her. "I won't be long so, make it quick." She calls, muffled through the door.

 

He stands frozen for a moment as he hears the water starting to run, _"She must be undressing by now.. NOPE! Try not to think about it!"_ Not wearing much at all to begin with, he makes quick work of putting on his street clothes. A plain tank top, shorts, and one shoe on, now it was time to switch prosthetics. He groans as he takes off his hand made leg first. He was going to need his second hand while he painstakingly starts to put on the new leg.

 

Letting her hair soak under the stream of warm water, she stares into the tile wall in front of her, thinking. She bites her lip, letting a little smile grow. She felt slightly naughty showering with a man just outside of the door. He'd be undressed two, she thought. She giggles at the thought of him in his underwear covering her face. She blushes deeply. "What if he doesn't wear underwear?" She shakes her head when she catches herself thinking of him naked, slightly regretting telling him he couldn't join her. What if she did? She lets out a little huff and bites her lip at the thought of him putting his hands all over her. Her eyes widen and face palms. "I'm more of a pervert than I thought..." She lets a sigh and tries to empty her mind and finishes her shower. Once dressed she drapes a towel around her shoulder and knocks on the door. "You decent?!"

 

"Yeah..." he grumbles back.

 

She raises a brow and peeks her head out to find him struggling to attach the newer leg. "You need help?"

 

"Nah! Thing just hates me. Feeling's mutual, piece'a junk!"

 

She smiles and crosses the room to assist him. She sits down on her knees and pushes his hands away. "Here. I'll help."

 

He blushes looking down at her. "I told ya I don't need it."

 

"Shoosh." She scolds as she pushes up the fabric of his shorts to reveal more of the flesh of his leg. The scars on his stump were large and deep. Her brows furrow and she idly runs her fingers over them. He had mentioned before losing it in an explosion, but judging by the scars it must have been way more gruesome than she had thought. He also didn't have most up to date medical treatment that she had.

 

Junkrat clears his throat and taps her hand. "Uh... You alright there?"

 

"Yeah... sorry." She says nervously. She pushes the prosthetic snuggly around the stump, twisting slightly back and forth. "Okay... See if the sensors are working."

 

He lifts up his leg and bends his knee. "Seems ta'be.."

 

"Try moving the foot, Jamie."

 

"Oh yeah..." he mutters as he maneuvers the foot and wiggles the very few pseudo toes. "It's weird... I like me peg better."

 

She stands and pats him on the shoulder. "It's okay... you can put it back on when we get back. Now... time for the arm..."

 

She picks up the newer prosthetic as Junkrat removes his old one. He set it down next to him on the bed with a frown and holds out his arm for Ashlyn to put on the new one.

 

She repeats the same process with his arm. "It's just for today."

 

"I know..." He groans. "Doesn't mean I'm happy about it."

 

"Just think, it's for tea! It's worth it for tea, right?" She smiles and stands back watching as he tests the sensors, wiggling each finger.

 

"I suppose..." He shrugs putting on the other sneaker before standing. He slips on the jacket and puts the hat on, brim forward. "Well... do I look as ridiculous as I feel?" He says glumly letting his arms droop at his side.

 

She purses her lips and taps her finger to her chin looking him over. She motions him to bend down and when he does she spins his hat around, making it face backward. She stands back and puts her hands on her hips with a smile. "You know, you clean up nice. I agree your older prosthetics are better. They have more character but you don't look bad at all!"

 

She blushes and scoffs. "Yeah, whatever... Let's go get some tea."

 

\---

 

After meeting up with Hana and Lucio, the four make their way down to the docks along with some of the volunteers ready to take the Ferry to the mainland. Junkrat hesitantly boards the small boat giving the dark and choppy water a weary look before taking a seat next to Ash. It wasn't a long ride, but after a while, Junkrat had moved to the railing and leaned pathetically over it.

 

Ashlyn taps Hana and points in his direction. "Is he okay?"

 

Hana leans in and whispers into Ashlyn's ear. "I think he's feelin' sick... it's a little rough on the water today and he gets seasick."

 

Ashlyn frowns and crosses the deck to stand next to him. "You okay there?"

 

Junkrat shakes his head slowly.

 

She smiles and rests her hand on his back, rubbing gently in little circles. "You'll be fine... just don't yak."

 

Junkrat chuckles half heartedly recalling that those were the same words he used back on drop ship the night she joined the team. "Very funny, Firebug, but no promises..."

 

"Just think of something else... think about explosions! Big ones!"

 

"Oooh... I do like explosions..." He manages a smile. "Thanks..."

 

When the ferry docks, Junkrat is the first one off and he leans against the first solid object he finds. Ashlyn, Hana, and Lucio follow close behind.

 

"You alright, man?" Lucio says with a raised brow.

 

"Happy to be on the ground..." He says with a shakiness in his voice.

 

Hana loops arms with Lucio and pulls him gently. "Well, let's go then."

 

Ashlyn motions forward. "You two go ahead, we'll catch up when he's feeling better."

 

"I'm fine" Junkrat grumbles. "Don't make a fuss..." He says pushing off of the cement wall he was leaning against, wobbling on his new prosthetic as he tries to walk forward. Ashlyn moves quickly to his side to help but he holds up a hand in protest as he catches his balance. He grins down at Ash when she gives him a worried look. "I'm alright... just forgot it ain't me old one..."

 

"Oh..." She chuckles.

 

"Well come on people!" Hana whines. "We don't have all day."

 

"We heard ya the first time, queenie." Junkrat says making a face at her and Hana pokes out her tongue in retaliation.

 

Lucio sighs, still wearing a smile he shakes his head. "We're gonna miss the bus if we don't hurry."

 

The docks used by Overwatch were in a secluded area, hidden away from prying eyes and to make it to town they take a short shuttle ride. A small bus is already waiting as they arrive, many of the volunteers already piling in with Lucio and Hana following suit. Junkrat and Ash make it just in time.

 

Junkrat stands aside letting Ashlyn pass. "Ladies first..." He says with a sly grin.

 

"What a gentleman." Ashlyn giggles hopping in and taking a seat, Junkrat following close behind and sitting down next to her. Ashlyn picks a window seat so she could see the scenery and Junkrat happily sits next to her only to get the usual goofy grin from Lucio.

 

The view of the open ocean and the white sails glistening in the distance is nothing short of gorgeous, and the architecture as they come into view of town was equally splendid. Ashlyn's eyes widen and her jaw drops. The whole town, aside from the occasional modern floating car or scooter, seems untouched by time. Every store front is adorned with Halloween decor and themed sales. Ashlyn smiles ear to ear as she helps Junkrat off of the shuttle and paces giddily while awaiting Lucio and Hana.

 

"You excited?" Junkrat scoffs.

 

"Are you kidding me? This town is gorgeous." She swoons touching the iron bench. "You don't see things like this anymore..."

 

Junkrat chuckles stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. "Thought you might gush over the place... bein' artsy fartsy and all."

 

Ash blushes and laughs sheepishly. "M-maybe I did gush a little..." She clears her throat and adjusts the front of her coat. "I'm warning you... it's only going to get worse." She giggles.

 

"Good." Junkrat smirked motioning her ahead as Lucio and Hana step off the shuttle and start walking down the street.

 

She and Junkrat walk side by side. Ash occasionally getting distracted by a clever halloween decoration or classic brass fixture, which Junkrat would always stop and let her admire before politely pulling her along to catch up with the others.

 

"It's just up ahead." Junkrat reassures, pointing to a little corner shop with stark white paint on it's front, but still had the pleasant unevenness of brick underneath. Above the door was a little neon sign featuring a Pachimari.

 

"It's a Pachimari boba shop!?" Ashlyn gasps.

 

Junkrat cocks a brow down at her giving her a bewildered expression.

 

She blushes and leans in whispering. "I'm kind of obsessed with Pachimari." She admits shamefully.

 

Junkrat cackles. "I think I just found Roadie a new pal!" He down and whispers in her ear. "Roadies obsessed with the little bugga too... I'll have to let him tell ya about the heist we did in Hanamura..." He chuckles.

 

She giggles. "I'll be sure to ask him next time I see him."

 

As they approach the shop, Hana takes a seat at a open patio style table. "I'll keep our seat." She says with a smile. "You know what I like, Lucio." Lucio nods and kisses her on the top of her head as he, Ash, and Junkrat head inside with pleasant chiming of a bell overhead as the door opens.

 

Ashlyn can't help but smile giddily at all the Pachimari themed Halloween decorations, touching them gently as she passes. She bites her lip stifling a small squeal as she sees black cat themed Pachi. Junkrat looks down at her chuckling and shaking his head.

 

Lucio orders his and Hana's drinks first. Matcha flavored for himself and passion fruit for Hana.

 

Meanwhile Ashlyn scans through the flavors for herself. She had only tried it once and it was a bland flavor that Junkrat liked. She was eager to try something sweet. Banana and Watermelon really catches her eye, but now she can't choose between the two.

 

As they approach the counter, a young lady in uniform smiles. "Hello! What can I get you?"

 

"G'day... I'll uh..." He starts tapping his chin and narrowing his eyes at the menu.  "I'll take a black milk tea and whatever the lady wants." He grins and nudges Ash. He chuckles when he finds she's been admiring a keychain with the same cat pachimari on it.

 

Ash flinches and looks up at him acknowledging what he had said. "Wait... you don't have to do that..."

 

"I know. I want to." He grins. "Tell'er what'cha want."

 

Ash blushes and greets the clerk sheepishly. "I'll have a watermelon then." The clerk smiles and nods as she punches in their order on her screen.

 

Junkrat taps Ash and points back to the door with his thumb. "How about you go sit with, Queenie and me and Froglegs here will bring the drinks.

 

Ash smiles. "That's nice of you. Thanks again by the way." She says sheepishly and walks back outside.

 

Once out of site, Junkrat snatches the keychain and puts it in front of the clerk. "Put that on there too, if ya please."

 

The clerk nods and smiles, looking past him at Ash as she takes her seat. "She your girlfriend?"

 

His eyes widen and stammers. "W-wot? Ooh! N-nah... she's not..." He swallows hard taking the tiny bag with the keychain in it.

 

"Could've fooled me." She giggles. "You're order will be up in just a few minutes. Have a nice day."

 

Junkrat stands next to Lucio as they wait for their order. He glances down at him for a moment and Lucio's smirking up at him. He scowls and puts the tiny bag in his pocket. "Wot are you lookin' at?"

 

"Cute keychain." Lucio teases crossing his arms. "Didn't know you were into that."

 

"Ain't for me." Junkrat mutters.

 

"I know." Lucio snickers.

 

"Shuddap..."

 

Hana rests her head in her hand, sighing dramatically. "What's taking them so long..."

 

Ash shrugs nonchalantly. "Well, they gotta make it don't they...?"

 

"I guess you're right..." She whines, just as the Junkrat and Lucio exits the shop and heads in their direction. "Finally!" She sighs.

 

Lucio sits first and hands Hana her drink and she sips it eagerly. Junkrat flops down into his seat next to Ash and passing her drink to her. He looks away from her for a moment and reaches down into his pocket pulling out the crumpled plastic bag. He places it down in front of her and takes a big gulp of his drink, still avoiding eye contact.

 

Ash tilts her head, giving him a confused look before picking up the tiny bag. Her eyes widen and gasps as she pulls out the adorable keychain she had been admiring before. She looks up at him in disbelief. "For me?"

 

He just nods quietly chewing on a pearl of tapioca.

 

"Aww..." She smiles sweetly down at it as she pulls it out of it's packaging and clips it to the zipper on her jacket. "Thank you, Jamie. I'll keep it forever."

 

Junkrat grins at seeing it on her jacket. "Heh. You're welcome."

 

The four of them drink their tea and chatter amongst themselves before Junkrat frowns down at the loud empty sound coming from his cup as he slurps the last of his drink up. He looks down into the cup and grumbles sadly, placing the empty cup on the table looking over at Ash who is finishing up her own.

 

"Did ya like it?"

 

Ash nods as she slurps up the last of her drink. "Mm... I could drink this all the time..." She hums happily and licks her lips. "So... what else are we doing today?"

 

"Well," Hana sits up in her seat and smiles at Ash. "I was going to take you to go get a costume for the party and we were gonna get some booze while we're out too. What kind of stuff do you like to drink, Ash?"

 

"Drink? Hmm...." Ash pauses. "Pretty much anything you can mix with something."

 

"Not picky, huh?" Lucio chuckles.

 

"Nah..." She shrugs.

 

"Well, in that case! We'll send the boys to go get the booze and we can go shopping!" Hana says with enthusiasm as she leaps from her seat grabbing Ash by the arm. Ash's eyes widening as Hana pulls her from seat to her feet.

 

"Woah! Okay...?" Ash chuckles nervously as she's being pulled away. Junkrat and Lucio give her a worried look as she waves goodbye with a pleading smile on her face.

 

======

 

Once out of the site and in the costume store, Hana links arms with Ashs and boucnes. "Okay, spill! What is going on between you and Junkrat?"

 

Ash's eyes widen trying to pull away from Hana. "W-what?"

 

Hana purses her lips. "Don't play dumb! I heard about you planting a kiss on his cheek today! Lucio told me all about it!"

 

Ash pauses and brings her hand slowly up to her mouth in disbelief and her face flushes. "I did?"

 

"You don't remember?" Hana scoffs and rolls her eyes. "You totally did! Lucio saw it happen!"

 

Ash sinks into herself for a moment then idly starts browsing through a rack of costumes. "I was just thanking him for helping me... you know... just being nice..." She says with a tight smile trying desperately to not make eye contact with Hana.

 

"Common... nobody just... kisses Junkrat..." Hana leans against the rack, giving Ash a look. "You guys have been acting strange around each other for weeks now... you can't deny that the dynamic between the two of you has changed dramatically since you got here."

 

She wasn't wrong, her feelings of him had changed and he had been nicer to her. He was always spending time with her... and he took all of that time to help her by making her new gadgets. He even sat in on her training to cheer her on, despite getting heat from Soldier.

 

Ash lets out a long sigh. "Well..." She starts fiddling with the zipper on a top and bites her lip turning to Hana a small smile. "Okay... I might... have the slightest... teensiest..."

 

Hana gasps and grabs Ash by her arms with a huge smile across her face. "I knew it! Oh em GEE! Tracer owes me five bucks! She didn't think you'd admit it!" She jumps up and down laughing  and clapping causing some of the other customers give them strange looks.

 

"Shh! Hana!" She whispers. "You're making a scene... wait... you bet money on it?"

 

Hana covers her mouth still giggling under her breath. "We've gotta tell him!"

 

Ash's eyes widen and waves her hands frantically. "No! No way!" She hisses.

 

"Why not?" Hana whimpers. "You like him don't you? How is he gonna know if you don't tell him."

 

"I-I don't know if I want him to know..." Ash says sadly looking through the racks again.

 

"Aw... why shouldn't he know? You guys would be so cute together! Hand in hand, blowing up and burning down everything in sight as you ride off into the sunset..." She says holding her hands over her heart. "My two favorite crazies."

 

Ash purses her lips and gives Hana a look. "Really? Crazies?"

 

"It's a term of endearment."

 

Ash rolls her eyes and moves to another rack. "What if he doesn't feel the same way... I don't want to ruin the friendship we already have..." She says with a frown.

 

Hana's jaw drops. "Are you kidding me?! He's head over heals for you! You're all he ever talks about..."

 

Ash blushes. "I doubt that..."

 

"Believe me, he's like a broken record sometimes. 'Firebug this,' and 'Firebug that,'. We were glad to hear you got some time off from training so he'd stay out of our hair for a while." She laughs.

 

Ash shrinks into herself blushing more. "I'm s-still not telling him."

 

"Why? You scared." Hana teases.

 

"Yes..." Ash whimpers. "It's been so long since I've felt like this about anyone I'm afraid to open up..."

 

"Look." Hana sighs. "He's strange, he's unpredictable, and downright crazy sometimes... but there's one thing that's always a constant with him. Loyalty. Once he lets you in his little circle, he's by your side through and through. He likes to pretend he hates Lucio, but he's still his friend. Same goes for Roadhog, shit, even me and Tracer at times." Hana wraps her arm around Ash and rest her head on her shoulder. "Take it from us... we've seen him change so much since you got here. I think his feelings are mutual..."

 

Ashlyn smiles and rests her head on Hanas. "If you say so..." She sighs and turns to Hana. "I will tell him... but on my own time and my own terms. Okay?"

 

Hana smiles and sighs. "Okay... promise... Now!" She starts dragging Ashlyn to the rack of rather racy costumes. "Let's wow that Junker!"

 

Ashlyn blushes deeply. "I think not! Besides, I already found my costume!"

 

"You have? Let's see it then!" Ashlyn pulls her back over to a previous rack, snatching a bright maroon colored costume and holding it up for Hana to see.

 

Hana raises a brow. "Really? You want to wear that?"

 

"Yes it is." Ash says with a proud smile on her face.

 

After a while Hana and Ash return to find Lucio and Junkrat sitting on a bench together with two plastic bags each. Junkrat looks up and waves them over.

 

"That didn't take too long..." Junkrat says standing to greet Ash. "What kind of costume did ya get?"

 

Ash tucks the bag behind her back and smirks. "Not telling." She teases in a sing-songy tone.

 

Junkrat frowns. "No fair!"

 

Hana walks up to Lucio and hugs him around his neck, leaning next to his ear. "She admitted it!" She whispers and Lucio chuckles.

 

Junkrat looks up at a clock perched on a post. "Better get movin'... shuttles gonna move through soon."

 

"Yeah, we better." Lucio says as he and Hana take the lead again arm and arm.

 

\---

 

After the shuttle ride and a very queasy ferry ride later, Junkrat again is the first one off, desperately clinging to something solid.

 

"I will never.... get use to that." He says with a shakiness in his voice and swallowing hard.

 

"Good news though..." Ash starts patting him on the back gently. "You get to change out of those prosthetics."

 

He perks up immediately. "Oi! You're right! Common!" He pulls on her arm. "I'm... gonna need your help..." He admits.

 

She giggles and nods. "No problem."

 

Back in her room she watches as Junkrat searches for his shorts. “Where did you put them?”

 

“I dunno…” He grumbles.

 

Ash joins him in his search finding them kicked under her desk. She shakes her head and picks them up off of the floor, but a few of the patches sadly dangle off of the fabric. “Found them… but… your patches are falling off.”

 

Junkrat shrugs. “Eh, nothin’ really holding them there much anyway.” He holds out his hand to take his shorts, but she ignores him and passes him by on her way to her closet. He raises a brow and watches her dig through her tool box. “Uh…. what are you doin’, Firebug?”

 

Ash walks back and sits down on her bed with a spool of thread, a small pair of scissors, and a needle. “I’m gonna fix’em..” She says with a smile.

 

“Oh, really?” He grins sitting down next to her to watch. “Thanks! I’d be bummed if I lost one.”’

 

“Not a problem.” She threads the needed and starts her work. Carefully she stitches each patch back into the fabric firmly. She snips the thread from the last patch and holds them out to inspect her work. She nods, clearly satisfied and hands them back to their owner.

 

With a big smile on his face he inspects them himself. “Wow! You didn’t tell me you could sew!”

 

“It’s not anything fancy, but they’ll hold.” She smiles and steps toward her washroom. “I’ll let you change and I’ll help you with your prothstetics.”  She says smiling at him and shuts the door behind her.

 

“Thanks, Firebug! I’ll make it quick.”

 

After a short wait he gives the okay and when she steps out to see him already trying to pry his newer limbs off, like a dog with cone on it’s head. She rolls her eyes and helps him remove the newer prosthetics and placing them next to each other as he puts his prized ones on with ease.

He sighs loudly with a wide smile across his face as he admires his limbs he made with pride.

 

"That's betta!" He hops up from her bed and watches as she folds his other clothes neatly. "You don't gotta do that..."

 

"I know... just thought Roadhog would appreciate it." She adds as she gathers them up and hands them to Junkrat. "Now... Let's take these back to Roadie." She smiles. "Maybe he’ll let us sit with him at dinner tonight... I'd like to hear that Hanamura story."

 

Grinning Junkrat chuckles. "He’ll give you the short version. Not much of a talker.”

 

“That’s alright! I’d like to get to know him better. He’s quite the enigma.” She starts for the door and it slides open.

 

Junkrat sighs. “Bloody oath, he is… We’ve been together on the road a long time, and I still don’t get’em half the time…” He follows close behind her as the two make their way to Roadhogs room and Ashlyn knocks lightly on the door.

 

Roadhog opens his door and looks down at the tiny woman, giving her only a grunt of a greeting.

 

She smiles. “Hey there, Road Hog. We brought back Jamie’s clothes.”

 

He looks down at the pile in Junkrat’s hands and reaches out and takes them in one hand with ease. He peers down at them for a moment and grunts. “Folded? I take it you did that.” He turning his pig mask back in her direction.

 

“Yeah…” She admits. “So…” She watches him put them back into their rightful place in dresser and takes the opportunity to get a quick peek around the room. To her surprise, everything was neat and tidy. A small stack of books, to her amusement, being held up by two piles of Pachimari plushies as bookends.

 

_Jamie wasn’t lying, he does like Pachi!_

 

“Look, Hog! She fixed me patches!” He stretches out the fabric on his shorts. “Fancy, eh?”

 

Hog turns and looks down at the lanky man, then turns to Ash giving a brisk thumbs up. “Nice.” He grumbles.

 

“I know right! She’s just full of talent!” Junkrat says patting her on the back.

 

Ash chuckles. “Thanks, Jamie…” She feels her stomach growl. “Who else is hungry? Dinner should be ready soon! I was wondering if it would be alright if we sat with you today? Jamie tells me you’re a fan of Pachimari…so am I… I’m curious about this infamous ‘Hanamura Heist’, Jamie mentioned.”

 

Hog pauses for a moment and lets out a gruff chuckle. “Alright…” He says giving another thumbs up. “Let’s eat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Work has been piling up and I was sick for a week. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and the other one will be up ASAP, just finishing up a few little things and it should be ready!
> 
> Let me know what you think about the visual insert! Sorry, there wasn't more, but if I did that I'll end up having a freakin' comic. (If I know myself well enough, I'll overload myself in pics to do)


	12. "Halloween Party!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (I know it's August, but the timeline matched well in the story so I added it.)  
> Ash finally gets to wear her new costume and she parties a little too hard.

For a couple days, Tracer, Lucio and Ash had been decorating the common room with little paper bats and ghosts Ash made. Junkrat offered to help hang up lights and higher things because of his height. Surprisingly enough, he still had to use a later for most parts and even more surprising was his ability to keep his balance with his pegleg. Ashlyn watched in awe as he climbed up and down the ladder with ease.

 

Ashlyn also got to help around the kitchen with Mei and Zarya. The two never really celebrated the holiday before living on base and Mei enjoyed making themed treats for the occasion. Ghost Pachimari, Pumpkin, and witch hat cookies. Zarya did all the baking, and left the decorating to the other two. Mei designated all the Pachimari faces to Ash, and she was happy to oblige.

 

Night of the Party.

 

Ashlyn walks down the hallway toward the common room with Angela. Angela was dressed as a witch and Ashlyn was in her own costume.

 

"You look very cute, Ashlyn." Angela giggles.

 

"Thanks! I knew it was the one when I saw it."

 

Upon entering, the lights were dimmed slightly. Only the orange lights that Junkrat had helped to put up and the flickering light of the television lite up the room. Themed remix music played through a few speakers Lucio had placed around the room and Ash grins to see there were a few others in costume as well.

 

Hana and Lucio were in matching Rock-a-billy themed costumes, Tracer and her girlfriend Emily were dressed as Peter Pan and Wendy, Reinhart was dressed as a king and Ana was in a black cloak and a terrifying pumpkin mask. Scanning the room she also saw Genji, Torb, Winston, 76, and McCree. Winston was in a themed sweater, and Torb had a viking helmet on, but the others weren't dressed up. McCree was already into the alcohol and sitting at the television watching a zombie movie. Winston and Torb were talking shop and 76 was sitting alone at a table scanning through his tablet sipping occasionally on a drink. Ash scans through the room some more when she meets eyes with Zarya who waves over to her and Ash crosses the room to join her and Mei. She glances around again, making a mental headcount.

 

No Jamie or Hog yet.

 

"Ash! You look so cute!" Mei giggles. "It looks so comfortable!"

 

"Thanks, Mei... and it totally is. I love this costume."

 

"Da. Very adorable." Zarya grins handing Ash a plastic cup of clear liquid. "Here. Drink."

 

"What's this?" Ash asks and sniffs the rim of the cup. "Vodka?"

 

"Da!"

 

"I usually mix it with orange juice..." Ash chuckles.

 

"Mixing is for poor quality vodka. This vodka is for drinking by itself." She pushes the cup slightly up to Ash's mouth. "Try it."

 

Ash puts her lips to the cup and lets out a nervous sigh as Zarya watches. She tips back the cup and takes a big gulp of it, trying hard to not let it touch her tongue, but it didn't stop her throat from catching fire. Once her mouth was empty, her eyes watered and began coughing loudly. "H-holy shit..."

 

Zarya laughs and pats Ash hard on her back. "Good, yeah!? Drink up! Plenty to go around."

 

As Zarya's back is turned, Mei passes her a cookie to and pours in some punch into her glass to help dilute the Vodka with a smile. Ashlyn returns the smile and downs the rest of the drink. The second time wasn't nearly as bad, considering all the nerve endings in her throat was now cauterized from the first dose.

 

"Hey there, Ash!" Tracer chimes walking hand in hand with Emily over to them. "I don't think you've properly met Emily, have you?"

 

Ash shakes her head. "No, I haven't." She holds out her hand politely. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ashlyn."

 

Emily smiles sweetly and shakes her hand gently. "Nice to meet you! I've heard so much about you!"

 

"Good things, I hope!" Ashlyn chuckles.

 

"Ofcourse!"

 

The two of them giggle and Tracer's smile beams across her face at them getting along, but is just as quickly distracted as a song starts bumping over the speakers. "Oh! Oh! Sorry love! Gotta dance!" She smiles and takes Emily by the arm who shyly waves goodbye as Tracer takes her by her hand and spins her in place.

 

Ash smiles and fills her drink before heading over to the couch to investigate what movie McCree is watching. She leans on the back of the couch, bracing her weight off of her forearms watching a few seconds of the movie before acknowledging McCree.

 

"What'cha watchin'...?" She asks sipping her drink.

 

"Zombies... that's all I know..." He chuckles and looks over at her drink. "What'chur poison?"

 

"Vodka and fruit punch. Not the best, but it does the job."

 

"Aw, that ain't a drink." He teases.

 

She puts up a hand to stop him as she takes another drink. "No judging my drinks. I've already been lectured already. Let me be." She grins.

 

"Yes, Ma'am." He chuckles raising his hands defensively.

 

“So, where’s Hanzo?” Ash asks looking around for his partner.

 

“Not a fan of the holiday… _‘It’s frivolous’_ and _‘he has better things to do.’_... so he’s meditatin’. “ He chuckles.

 

“Oh… well, he’s missing out.” Ash grins.

 

“Mhm.”

 

"Oi, you already drinkin', Firebug?"

 

She turns her head and stands straight to see Hog and Junkrat. Junkrat stood with a large grin on his face, he was dressed as a pirate. Ashlyn stifles a giggle as he approaches. "Get it? I'm a pi-rat!" He says before cackling loudly, clearly amused by his own pun.

 

Ashlyn smiles, despite the cringy pun, his costume was really well done. He had a bandana on his head, a scar painted on his face, a vest, tattered pants with a red sash around his waist, and he was even wearing a clip on hoop earring. "Did you make your costume?"

 

Junkrat puffs out his chest proudly. "You bet I did! Spent weeks on it."

 

"Nice!" She nods taking a sip of her drink, turning her attention to Hog. He was wearing a black shirt that read. "This is my Halloween costume."

 

"Nice shirt." Ash chuckles holding up a thumbs up.

 

Hog grunts returning her thumbs up with his own when Ashlyn's gaze went back to Junkrat. His head tilting with a puzzling look on his face. "So... what are you s'posed to be exactly." He motions to her costume.

 

"Oh!" She stretches out her arms and makes a growling face. "I'm a dragon!" She says adding a little roar at the end.

 

Junkrat chuckles nervously, blushing slightly. "C-cute! Heh... suits ya... you know... with the fire and all..." He clears his throat. "M-me throats dry... gonna get a drink." He says with a nervous smile before heading towards the drink table.

 

 

Ash and Hog just look at each other and shrug.

 

The night carries on and Ash was really enjoying herself. She really felt at home here with these people who months ago were total strangers. She still didn't know all of them well enough, but the select few who had really gotten close to her really made her feel like she belonged here.They were like a huge dysfunctional family and she loved every minute of it.

 

Hog had migrated to the couch with Angela where McCree once sat and was watching a black and white movie on the television discussing a recent episode of a popular t.v. cooking competition. Zarya and Reinhart were arm wrestling, and 76 must have had a few to drink himself because he was cheering them on and taking bets alongside Ana who insist that 'her Reinhart' will take the prize.

 

Occasionally between the laughter and music her mind would snap back to reality and remember what day is coming up and she felt a sinking feeling in her chest. Goofing off and laughing with Junkrat was a good distraction. His puns were getting more and more outrageous the more he drank. The more she drank, the funnier they got.

 

Before long Lucio and Junkrat had gone off to set up a beer pong game on the pool table. Hana watches eagerly and takes hold of her arm. "We should team up against the guys!"

 

Ash blinks at her groggily. "You really want me to be on your team...? I'm already hammered... we're gonna lose..." She slurs.

 

“No we’re not…” Hana chuckles under her breath before leaning in close to Ash. _“Lucio is terrible at this game! We’ve got this in the bag!”_ She whispers with a sly grin on her face.

 

Ash looks back up at the boys and Lucio was watching Junkrat juggle the ping pong balls, surprisingly well. Ash watches in amazement. “I didn’t know you could juggle, Jamie!” She says giving him a round of applause. “You’re super good at it!”

 

Junkrat hears her voice and peers over at her before one of the balls bounce off of the palm of his prosthetic hand and across the room. “Oops! Heh…” He chuckles. “T-thanks, Firebug! We gonna play or what?”

 

Hana turns to Ash with pleading eyes. Ash sighs and shrugs. “Sure! Why the hell not!” She slurs pulling herself from her seat and follows Hana over to the pool table.

 

Junkrat and Lucio grin. “Ladies first.” They both say and toss a ball in Hana’s direction.

 

Hana catches it and grins. “If I get it in, Lucio has to take a shot! If Ash gets it in, Junkrat has to take a shot and vice versa! Deal?”

 

Junkrat and Lucio nod. “Fair enough.” Lucio chimes. “Let’s play!”

 

Hana grins, takes position, and takes her shot. It lands in a cup far in the back with a splash. “Wooh! I play to win!”

 

Lucio groans and grimaces down at his shot glass, filling it and throwing it back.

 

“Alright! My turn! You ready, Firebug!?” He cackles and takes position.

 

Ash nods groggily.

 

With crazy precision, the ball lands right into a cup with a satisfying splash. Junkrat whoops and does a little jig. Shrugging, Ashlyn takes her shot without a complaint. After a while, Hana lets out a little frustrated sigh seeing that she and Ash are losing. Junkrat’s surprising aim had completely obliterated them, and Ash wasn’t even trying! Hana grumbles and turns to Ash, she was swaying slightly and her eyes looked heavy.

 

“Oh wow… are you okay?” Hana asks, grabbing the attention of Junkrat who looks over with a worried expression.

 

“Oh yeaaaaah… I’m fiiiine…” She slurs. “Juss sleepy…” She says wobbling back and forth with a small smile.

 

Zarya comes up behind her and puts a hand on her shoulder. “I will take your place. You go sit.” She says in a firm, motherly tone.

 

Ash and Hana look up at her, Ash giving her a goofy smile. “You’re a shweet heart, Zzzarya…” She mumbles and pats her on her arm and waddles off to the couch. She stops for a moment and looks down at Hog who was sitting with his hands folded neatly on his stomach. “Can I sit wiff you, Hoggie?”

 

He turns to her slowly and nods. He pats the spot next to him and watches her as she maneuvers her way around the couch carefully. She plops down, curls her legs up to her, and snuggles into the arm of the couch. “Thanks, bud.” She mutters to hog before her eyes slowly close and instantly falls asleep with a soft snore.

Angela walks by the couch noticing Ashlyn snoring away. She stops and brushes Ash’s hair out of her face to check on her. “Hmm… I think someone has partied herself out…”

 

Junkrat trots up beside Angela. “She okay?”

 

“Yes, she’s just asleep…” She says sitting up and placing her hands on her hips. “She can’t sleep here… how are we going to get her to her room?”

 

“I’ll carry’er.” Junkrat says puffing out his chest proudly.

 

Angela gives him a sceptical look momentarily before letting out a small sigh. “Alright, Jamison, but be careful.”

 

He salutes and makes his way around the front of the couch and faces his back towards her. “Help me out, Hog.”

 

Angela looks on in horror as the large man picks her up with one hand with ease, placing her on the smaller junker’s.

 

Junkrat adjusts and loops his arms under her legs. “Alright… I gott’er.” He turns to Angela with a grin. “See, no sweat!” He chuckles and walks off with Ashlyn still sound asleep on his back.

 

\----

 

After a while, Ash’s eyes slowly peel open when she suddenly feels like she’s moving. To her surprise, she is. She grumbles and looks around, but her face brushes into Junkrat’s hair, causing her to recoil. “Whu- what the fuck?”

 

“Don’t go wigglin’ around or you’ll fall!” Junkrat says with a weary tone.

 

“Where we goin’...” she says groggily and lays her head back down on his shoulder.

 

“To bed.” He says turning the corner.

 

Ash blinks and then chuckles to herself. “Typically, you take a girl to dinner first before you take her to bed.”

 

Junkrat’s eyes widen and his ears burn, stopping dead in his tracks. “Wot?! No! That’s _not_ what’s happenin’!” He stammers.

 

Ash buries her head into his back and laughs hysterically. “I’m just teasin’ you, ya goof!” She says with a slur, patting him on the head. “I know you wouldn’t try anything… I’d kick your ass…”

 

“Yeah, yeah. You are really off your face, aren’t ya?”

 

Her brows furrow as she thinks really hard about what he had just said. “What’s wrong with my face?” She says putting a hand up to prod at cheeks.

 

He rolls his eyes and cackles. “I mean you’re really drunk…”

 

“Oh… this is true.” She slurs.

 

Junkrat stops again, but this time infront of her door. He turns in place facing her towards the door panel. “Alright. Scan yer hand.”

 

After two or three minutes, Junkrat starts to think this is taking way too long and he peers back at her. She was repeatedly placing her prosthetic hand on the scanner with her brows furrowing in frustration. He rolls his eyes and slaps his palm into his forehead before spinning around to face her the right way. After a few more tries, the door finally hisses open. He carries her across her room and crouches down.

 

“Alrighty, inta bed with ya.” He says as she slumps off of his back onto her bed. He spins around when he hears a small thud to find her rubbing the back of her head. “You okay?”

 

“I bumped my head…” She in a sad, groggy tone.

 

“Sorry…” He says helping her move up the bed to lay her head on the pillow. He throws a small blanket from the foot of the bed over top of her and smiles as she hums happily, curling up into a ball. “There ya go! All snug…”

 

“Y-know…” She starts. “You’re nicer than you let on…”

 

He tilts his head. “Wot’cha mean?”

 

She smiles up at him. “You’re a real sweetheart when you wanna be.”

 

His eyes dart away from her as he gets this flopping feeling in his chest. “Nah!” He scoffs. “I ain’t no ‘sweetheart’. Just doin’ what you would do for me…” He clears his throat and starts off for the door. “Night, Fireb-” His eyes widen as he’s suddenly halted, he looks down at his wrist to see her little hand wrapped around it.

 

With a pleading look on her face she tugs on his arm gently. “Don’t leave yet…” she says looking down at the floor with sad eyes. “I don’t want to be alone…”

 

He swallows hard, but she looks genuinely sad. He sighs and sits on the edge of the bed. “I’ll sit here ‘til you fall asleep, eh?”

She scoots away from him and pulls on his arm again. “Will… you lay here with me…?” She says with the same sad eyes.

 

His chest tightens. “W-wot?”

 

“Just for a little while?”

 

He gulps and watches her for a moment, before she pulls on his arm again gently. He takes a deep breath “A-alright…” He slowly lowers himself back on the bed, resting his head on the headboard. Just when he felt like he couldn’t be more nervous, he flinches as she scoots close to his side, resting her arm around his middle and her head on his chest. He froze solid, unable to move or breath as she nuzzles her head into him.

 

“You’re warm…” she slurs.

 

“Uuuuh…. F-Firebug… w-wot are you doin’?”

 

“Cuddling… cuddles make me feel better when I’m sad…” She mumbles sleepily.

 

 _“CUDDLING!? ME!?!?”_ His whole body tenses at the word. _“I thought she said that was something that you did with someone ya care about?! She must be really off’er face for doin’ this with me!!”_

 

He could feel all the blood in his body rushing to his face. “Wh-why you wanna do that… w-with me?” He tried hard to mask the shakiness in his voice. Maybe she would be too drunk to notice…

 

“I feel safe with you…” She mutters. Her voice was getting quieter… softer…

 

“Safe? With me? Heh! I think you got the wrong, guy, Firebug..”

 

She nods. “Yep… with you…” She smiles and nuzzles into his chest again letting out a soft sigh. “Jamie…?”

 

“Y-yeah?” His voice cracked.

 

“You’re my best friend…” She trailed off.

 

He pauses for a moment, letting that really sink in. _“I’m her best friend?”_  His chest felt like someone had put one of his own bombs in it. It felt like it would explode with how hard his heart was beating… His eyes dart around the room frantically before down at her. She was motionless and her breathing was really steady. He gently brushes her bangs from her eyes to see her face… _“She fell asleep…”_ His mind races for a moment. _“Fuck… how am I supposed to leave now? I can’t stay here! She might wake up and come to her senses… she might burn my face clean off!”_

 

She lets out a little snore and his heart skips a beat. How could something so mundane to him before… be one of the most adorable sounds he had ever heard? He sits quietly and watches as her shoulders rise and fall with her breathing. He hesitantly lowered his arm to rest on the bed, then gently places his flesh the top of her head. Her hair was so soft, he gently stroked her bangs back away from her face and smiling at her little coos and snores in her sleep. For the first time, he felt completely at ease… No jittering, no manic thoughts, no fuses going off in his brain.... Just her. Part of him wanted this to last forever, but he knew once she woke, she’d realize what a mistake she had made...  His smile fades, sighing he rests his head back on the headboard and looks up at the ceiling.

 

_“Gotta think of how I’m gonna get out’a here without wakin’ her…”_

 

Just then, he makes eye contact with a Pachimari stuffed animal just above him on the head board. A little light went of in his head. He reaches up and takes plush in one hand. It looked like a it had a little cloak on and tiny fangs.

 _  
_ _“Oh… I get it... It’s a vampire.”_

 

He bites his lip and very slowly and carefully he peels her arm out from around his middle and put the plush in her arms as he slinks off the edge of the bed falling to the floor. He sits up quickly to check if he had woke her up, letting out a sigh of relief when she snuggles into the plush still fast asleep. He sat quietly there and watched her for a few moments.

 

_“I could kiss’er… and she wouldn’t even know it…”_

 

He leans across the bed, hovering just above her head. He could smell the flower sweet smell of her shampoo. He lowers his head and rests his cheek on her head, taking in more of her smell. Before finally lifting up to let her rest… he presses his lips against her scalp. His heart pounding in his ears, he pulls away quickly and heads straight for the door.

 

_“What did I just do? Such a creep...”_

 

He grimaces and presses the door panel hard, and the door slides open and he steps out into the empty hallway. Only the sad sound of the door shutting behind him echoes through the halls. He pulls on his clip on earing, tearing it from his ear and pulls the bandana from his head. He unlocks his door and retreats into his room, slamming down onto his bed.

 

_“What’s wrong with me?”_

 

\---

_The next day_

 

Most of the crew had already been up for hours and back to their normal duties. Junkrat was helping around the common room, taking down the highest decorations. He was starting to worry… Ashlyn hadn’t come out of her room yet today and it was already noon. His brows furrow as he thinks back last night's events, but is quickly pulled out of it as Tracer stacks another sting of lights into his arms.

 

“That should be the last of the lights.” She says wiping her brow, but there was no response from Junkrat. She raises a brow and taps him on the shoulder. “You alright, Junkrat? You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind.”

 

“Huh?” He mutters. “Oh… nah… no worries, mate.” He says placing the lights into a cardboard box.

 

Tracer smiles. “Worried about Ash?” He froze instantly at the question. “Thought so.” She chuckles. “I’m sure she’s just sleepin’ off all the brewy she drank last night!”

 

Lucio laughs. “Yeah! I have never seen a girl drink that much ever… in my whole life…” He looks up just as Ash crosses the threshold of the common room. “There she is!” He chimes.

 

She winces at the chipper tone of Lucio’s voice, she gives him a ‘turn it down’ gesture before slumping into the couch similar to the night before. Still in her costume, she pulls the hood down over her eyes and grumbles.

 

Junkrat perks up and hesitantly walks over to her, resting on the back of the couch to look down at her. “Hey…” He says softly. “You okay?”

 

She shakes her head slowly side to side.

 

“Need somethin’ to eat…? You missed breaky...” He says with a little more worry in his voice.

 

She lets out a faint audible gag.

 

He grimaces. “Oh… Need us to get the doc?”

 

She grumbles nodding slowly.

 

“Okay…” He says looking back at Lucio. “Think you can use those skates of yours to go fetch, Angel Wings? Ash ain’t feelin’ too hot…”

 

Lucio nods and glides up the wall of the stairs to go retrieve Angela.

 

After a few minutes, Lucio returns with Angela right behind. “Did someone call a doctor?” She chuckles.

 

Junkrat nods in the direction of the sad lump on the couch.

 

“Ah, I see…” She sits down next to Ash, pulling her hood from her face. “Have you been sick this morning?”

 

Ash nods. “Since six this morning off and on…” She says with a hoarseness in her voice.

 

“Not surprising with how much you drank last night.” She stands and places her hands on her hips. “Well, I doubt you can keep anything down at the moment, so we’ll have to go the clinic. I’ll set you up on an i.v. and get some fluids in you.”

 

Ash nods and slowly peels away from the couch and pulls the hood down over her head again.

 

Junkrat rushes to her side to help her up. “She gonna be alright?”

 

Angela laughs. “She’ll be fine. She’s hungover.” She shakes her head with a smile and wraps an arm around Ash. “Let’s go get you fixed up, my dear.”

 

At the clinic Angela hooks Ash up to a saline drip. Ash curls up into ball on the cot and pulls the hood down over her eyes.

 

Angela looks down at her outfit and scoffs. “Why are you still wearing your Halloween costume?”

 

“It’s not anymore. It’s the first… it’s now my pajamas…” Ash says gruffly from under the hood.

 

“If you say so…” Angela sighs. She turns towards the door when she hears a gentle rapping. Upon answering she was not surprised to see Junkrat. He was already looking around her at Ash. She rolls her eyes and steps out of the way ushering him in. “Come in… Just try to be quiet… she has a headache.”

 

He nods crossing the room, frowning to see her curled up in a sad ball. He sits down at the end of the cot. “Hey, Firebug…” He says offering a small smile.

 

“Hey…” She mutters, waving with two fingers.

 

“Too much fun, eh?” He chuckles.

 

She scoffs. “Way too much… I underestimated your beer pong skills.” She smiles.

 

Junkrat laughs resting his hands in his lap. The room falls quiet as he watches Angela walk into the next room.

 

“Jaimie?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“... Did you call me… Ash earlier?” She asks in her hoarse voice.

 

Junkrat’s eyes widen and he tries to think back. _“Did I?”_

 

“I wouldn’t mind if you did… I call you, Jamie… why not call me Ash?” She shrugs.

 

“Firebug’s your junker name. Don’tcha like it?”

 

Ash gives him a hoarse giggle. “Not at first… but it’s really grown on me.”

 

Junkrat grins. “O’course, even Hog claims ya now… you’re a bonafide junker now.”

 

Ash smiles. “I’m honored.”

 

Junkrat chuckles and looks back down at his hands, idly picking at the chipping paint on his prosthetic.

 

“Hey, Jamie…” Ash starts.

 

“Mhm?”

 

“Sorry about… last night… if I made you uncomfortable.”

 

His eyes widen and a lump wells in his throat. _“She remembers!”_

 

“I’ve been down lately… this time of year isn’t kind.” She tucks into her hood. “Too many bad memories… so… I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable subjecting you to that… and I meant what I said… I do feel safer around you… and you really are my best friend.”

 

Junkrat couldn’t speak. For once he couldn’t find the words, like all the moisture in his mouth evaporated.

 

She scanned over his face, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He’s never this quiet… you could hear a pin drop in the room it was so quiet.

 

He swallows hard, finally his mouth opens to speak. “Nah... no worries… there are worse things you could’ve done…” He chuckles nervously picking his prosthetic again. “To be honest… you’re the first… _real_ friend I got…” He chews on his lip. “I mean… I got Hog, but that’s different…” He turns to her and she had pulled her hood up enough that he could see her green eyes… and she stared right back into his. “You’re my best mate too, Firebug…”

 

She gives him a sweet smile. “I’m glad. Thanks Jamie… for lookin’ out for me.”

 

“No problem, Firebug…”

 

\----

 

Even after recovering from her terrible hang over, Ashlyn still was acting slightly off character. She hardly spoke and hardly ate, but her strange behavior hadn't gone unnoticed. Several members of the team would occasionally ask _'Are you feeling okay?'_ or _'You alright?'_ , where she would give them a dry smile and reassure them that she's fine. As unconvinced as they looked, she was just glad to have them out of her hair. It was her business and she would rather not bother other with her problems.

 

Unfortunately, the only one she couldn't shake off was Junkrat. Constantly prying and trying his hardest to make her smile which he managed to do on occasion. No matter how down she was, she couldn't help but laugh at that goofy junker. Come to think of it, she remembers telling  him she was upset the night of the party, but why is he making such a fuss about it? So she decides she'll go find a place to be alone for a while. She could hide away from the worried looks, most of all to think, and she had the perfect place.

 

She manages to sneak away just after lunch. A lot of the crew were on the mainland getting their monthly shopping done and Junkrat wasn't in his shop so making it to the roof was easy. There she would just sit and watch the ocean.

 

Meanwhile, Junkrat was searching all over for her but found Roadhog instead. He hobbles over scratching the back of his head and leans up against a crate while Hog tinkers away at his prized bike.

 

"Oi, Hog. Have you seen Firebug? I can't seem to find'er..."

 

"Why?" Hog grunts.

 

Junkrat sneers. "Whatch'a mean, 'why'? 'Cause I'm lookin' for'er that's why..."

 

"Maybe she doesn't wanna be found..." He adds gruffly.

 

"Well, I'm worr-" His voice cuts out and he folds his arms shyly.

 

Hog turns to his employer and the wrinkles on his brow raise upward. "What was that?"

 

"I-I...Sh-she... rruagh! Can it, pig face!" Junkrat shouts trying to sound intimidating, but his ears burn when the large junker falls into a fit of laughter.

 

He scoffs and crosses his arms in a defeated manner, but his brows furrow for a moment and his sneer fades into a frown. "She said somethin' the other night... something about bad memories... and she's actin' like someone snuffed out'er spark ever since. It ain't like'er..." He lets out an exasperated sigh looking away from his large friend. "So... I might be the _teensiest_ bit... _w-worried about'er._ "

 

Roadhog lets out a wheeze of a chuckle behind his mask and resting back on his rump. "Welp... saw her head toward your shop 'bout an hour ago... try that way yet?"

 

Junkrat perks up and snaps his fingers. "The roof! Why didn't I think'a that?" He bounds off, waving back to Hog. "Thanks, Mate!"

 

\---

 

Ash sits with her knees pulled up to her chest, wrapped in her favorite sweater. She was nearly dozing off to the sound of the waves crashing against the cliffs when she heard a familiar clattering. Just as she turns to see where the sound is coming from, Junkrat's head pops up rather comically over the edge in front of her.

 

"There you are, Firebug!" He exclaims with a wide grin on his face. "Been lookin' for ya!"

 

She smiles and giggles, it's hard not to when you're in the presence of someone who at times is the living embodiment of a cartoon character. He hops down from the large crate he had hoisted himself up on and climbs the rest of the stairs to join her. He sits down hard next to her, still wearing his wide goofy smile.

 

"What'cha run off for?"

 

She shrugs slowly and rests her head in her hand. "Just... needed some 'me' time I guess..."

 

Junkrat's grin droops at the sad tone in her voice. "Oh... am I botherin' ya?"

 

She gives him a small smile. "No... you're fine... I've been wallowing in my thoughts all day... it's doing more harm than good I think..."

 

Junkrat's brows furrow and looks down at his hands, thinking back on what she had said about 'bad memories'. He scoots closer. "What's on yer mind, love? What's eatin' ya..."

 

She sits silent, staring out into the ocean before opening her mouth to speak. "Today's my Dad's birthday."

 

Her voice was coarse like she was choking back tears and when he examines her face he notices some tears welling up in her eyes. He had seen that look too many times and now he knew exactly what had her so upset.

 

"Oh..." He whispers. "I'm sorry..."

 

"Don't be. I just miss'em..."

 

Junkrat tries to put on a smile for her and rests a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Ain't nothin' wrong with that, darl. If you need to talk, ol' Junkrat's here to lend a friendly ear."

 

"Thank you..." She smiles and rests her hand on top of his, gripping it slightly before releasing it.

 

"No worries." Eager to keep that smile on her face he tries to lighten the mood. "Say... why don't you tell me what your old man was like, eh? Talk about the good stuff rather than thinkin' of the bad."

 

"Okay..." She chuckles softly. "Growing up... I was always under my dad's feet when he was in his garage. I loved it in there so much, he decided he would teach me everything he knew about his work."

 

Junkrat brings one knee up to his chest resting his head in his hand watching her as she spoke, smiling all the while.

 

"He always would talk about me taking over the business... but during my rebellious teenage years, I decided I wanted to pursue art. I could tell he was disappointed, but he bought me my first tattoo gun. _'Follow your dreams, Pumpkin.'_ He said..." She chuckles. "He wasn't even upset when I took that gun apart and rebuilt it for fun. When I showed it to him he just smiled… _’Tinkering is in your blood girl!'_... Ironically, I built more guns than actual tattooing.."

 

Junkrat lets out a silly giggle. "I suppose that is kinda ironic! Sound's like a cool, guy though..."

 

Ash smiles, actually smiling this time. "He was, he was kind of weird sometimes too..." She snorts as another fond memory comes back to her. "My mom and dad were separated, so we saw dad every weekend. On those weekends we'd sit up all night eating junk food and watching old Godzilla movies. Mom used to get so mad. 'Quit feeding them that garbage!'" She mocks and falls into a fit of giggles. "Godzilla movies were his favorite." She pulls off her sweater and shows Junkrat a tattoo of a grumpy green, cutesified, lizard monster on her shoulder. "He loved Godzilla so much, when he passed away I got a tattoo of him in his memory."

 

"Aw, that's nice!" He said grinning at the funny cartoon figure. "But uh... I dunno who Godzilla-whatzit is..." He admits scratching his head.

 

Ash's mouth hangs open in shock. "You've never seen a Godzilla movie?"

 

Junkrat shakes his head and shrugs. "Ain't seen too many movies, to be honest."

 

Ash grabs him by his shoulders. "You HAVE to watch at least one Godzilla movie! You'd love Godzilla!"

 

He raises a brow at her enthusiasm, at least she wasn't moping around anymore."What even is a Godzilla..?"

 

"He's GIGANTIC lizard monster that breathes fire! I will admit that there is a lot of parts that are going to be boring and cringy, but I don't watch it for the plot! I watch it for the fight scenes! Those are the best!" She says practically vibrating with excitement but she frowns for a moment.

 

His eyes widen. "You had me at giant fire-breathing lizard!" He gasps and grabs her by her arm. "I got an idea! What if for your ol'man's birthday, you and me watch one of them Godzilla movies, eh!? You know, doing something he loved doin' with ya."

 

Ash pauses for a moment. "...You'd really do that... for me?"

 

Junkrat blushes and pulls away. "Well...y-yeah." He stammers. "That and Hana won't be hoggin' the telly. Her and a few of the others went out this afternoon and won't be back till late, so we've got the telly to ourselves!" Junkrat stands and extends a hand to Ashlyn.

 

Taking his hand, he helps her to her feet. "I can go set up the movie if you wanna find some snacks.." She grins. "Maybe some tea?"

 

Junkrat gives a salute. "Tea and snacks? I'm on it! Be back in a jif!" He bounds off the ledge to the second set of stairs below and yells out to Roadhog. "Oi Roadie! Where're those crisps I bought last week!?"

 

Ashlyn giggles as his voice trails off into the distance then soon takes her own leave to the common room.

 

\---

 

Junkrat enters with a bag full of goodies and a metal pot. "Got tea and snacks!" He drops the bag on the end table and then the pot on the floor. Out of the bag, he grabs two glasses and a ladle. "You got the movie ready?"

 

Ashlyn nods as she sets the volume and sits down on the couch. "I've picked out a good one. Godzilla versus SpaceGodzilla! Hehe.. Still, has boring people stuff in it, but I promise the fights are good! They are _REALLY_ old movies though.... this one came out it 1994."

 

Junkrat's jaw drops. "That old, eh?" He chuckles "Still not as old as _my_ favorite movie though."

 

"And what's your favorite movie?" She asks flipping through the options on the screen.

 

"Mad Max!" He proclaims proudly with his hands on his hips. "Best damn movie ever made!"

 

Ash giggles. "I've seen it! It would be your favorite movie."

 

After pouring two heaping glasses of boba tea he plops down next to her, handing her own cup and dragging the bag of snacks closer. "A'roight! Let's get to the monster fightin!"

 

"I know you're gonna get bored of some of the scenes. Try not to fall asleep on me." She giggles as she pushes the play button.

 

"Eh, just wake me up on the good parts then." He grins and takes a big gulp of his tea.

 

Ash rolls her eyes and opens a bag of chips as the opening credits start to roll.

 

\---

 

After the initial open scenes of the opening credits where they tease SpaceGodzilla and Godzilla's roar, Junkrat started to loose interest and had a slight look of disdain of the building of giant robot M.O.G.E.R.A. and complete and utter confusion at the first sight of Mothra.

 

"I have no fucking idea what's goin' on..." He mutters while putting a hand full of chips in his mouth.

 

"So... they're an organization trying to control Godzilla using telepathy... and the other group is trying to kill him... The lady with the glowing earrings can talk to that big moth, that's Mothra... _That's a whole different movie..._ " She whispers.

 

"Uh-huh..." He raises a brow.

 

"I promise it gets good. It's like... this is the shitty foreplay and the monster fights are the climax.." She giggles.

 

Junkrat blinks. "Did you just make a dirty joke?"

 

"I did." She smirks.

 

Junkrat tilts his head and looks at the creature on the screen similar to the one in Ash's tattoo. "Is that it? That little fella...?"

 

"No... that's just a baby. The big ones still in the ocean."

 

"Oh... Cute little bugga." He chuckles.

 

"Isn't he though?"

 

After what felt like an eternity to Junkrat, Godzilla finally emerges. "Yes! Finally!"

 

Ash sighs. "Don't get your hopes up. They'll cock tease ya a lot."

 

"Fuck!"

 

"Sorry… Toho's shitty foreplay."

 

"Wait... is that a man in a costume?"

 

"Sure is."

 

"I need one of those..."

 

\----

 

SpaceGodzilla lands, finally, Junkrat sits up in his seat as Little Godzilla starts walking toward him. Space Godzilla gathers energy from the nearby crystals and blasts fire at the little creature.

 

"Oi! That's fucked up, that's a baby, you drongo!" He hisses at the screen.

 

Ash tries hard to not to smirk at how defensive he gets over Little Godzilla. He looks overwhelmed with a series of emotions of excitement from the pyrotechnics, but every time the tiny monster cries his brows furrow.

 

"It's scarin' it! Poor little ankle-bita'!" When Godzilla falls protecting its baby, he gasps draws his bag of chips closer to himself and SpaceGodzilla traps it in a crystal prison. "Wait! It ain't gonna do nothin'? Ya loose once and ya just gonna let the baby sit in that hole!? That's fucked up that is..."

 

After the action was over, Junkrat was bored again. "More science mumbo-jumbo... _gag_..." His face crinkling his nose at the woman talking to Mothra again... and her rant about Godzilla having feelings. "Oh, Jesus Christ..." He groans.

 

"I told you parts would make you cringe..." She mutters supping on her tea.

 

More strange scene ensues, telekinesis, more _'science mumbo-jumbo'_.  Then a scene of the army firing missiles at Godzilla, of course, they do no damage and Godzilla takes them all out with ease with flaming fury.

 

"Okay..." Junkrat starts. "I understand killin' the one from space... but why do they wanna kill the real one?" Godzilla tramples through parts of a city. "Other than... _for maybe that reason..._ " He mutters as people run in terror.

 

"Oh... they wanna kill him because they can't control him. Ironically he saves the planet every time a new monster shows up, but they try to kill him anyway."

 

"How does a lizard get that big anyway?"

 

"Fictional radiation..."

 

"Oh..." he said glumly. "It's always radiation, but lizards don't get that big in Oz!"

 

Ash nods quietly munching on her snack.

 

"Wish they did... I'd tame one and ride it!"

 

Ash snorts. "Only if I get one too!"

 

"Deal."

 

Junkrat giggles and chuckles through the scenes of Godzilla trampling the city making Ash smile. He makes little jokes here and there, _"Woops! Didn't see ya there."_ , _"Scuse me, commin' through!"_ , _"You'll thank me later!"_

 

Triumphant music begins to play as Godzilla approaches Space Godzilla and the two begin to spar. Junkrat sits on the edge of his seat. "Bout fuckin' time!"

 

As SpaceGodzilla lifts Godzilla into the air and into a building Junkrat scoffs. " _Cheating!_ He's a wizard lizard!"

 

Ashlyn coughs nearly choking on her tea. She sits it down and catches her breath to break into a fit of laughter.

 

The fight really ensues and Junkrat has been the quietest he's been all movie. All focus on the screen, raising a brow at the occasional human segments and especially the M.O.G.E.R.A. scenes, but still focused. Godzilla is knocked down but when he stands back up again bouncing his leg eagerly as the fight continues.

 

Godzilla defeats SpaceGodzilla in a flaming pyre. Junkrat's lips curl into a maniacal grin. "Aces..." He mutters but it was short lived.

 

More interactions between the human actors, the cringy scenes with the fairies and Mothra he makes an audible gagging noise making Ashlyn crack up. His smile soon returns when Godzilla walks off as the victor though, and the adorable scene of Little Godzilla makes him giggle. "I like that little fella..."

 

The credits roll.

 

"So.." Ashlyn stretches looks up at Junkrat. "What'cha think?"

 

"Meh." He shrugs. "You gotta admit parts of that movie was rubbish."

 

"Agreed, but the Godzilla scenes?"

 

He grins. "Fighting parts were aces! Not bad for 1994 I'd say! I see why your dad liked it!"

 

"I'm glad you enjoyed most of the movie at least!" She smiles.

 

"You know..." Junkrat starts resting his arm along the back of the couch behind Ash. "Godzilla and me got a lot in common."

 

Ashlyn pauses and looks over at him with a quizzical look. "How's that?"

 

"Well... we're both freaks that don't know how to do nothin' else but wreck stuff and everyone hates us for it for starters..." He chuckles, but he couldn't hide the somber tone in his voice.

 

Ashlyn huffs and elbows him lightly. "Don't be so hard on yourself! You are not a freak and I don't hate you at all... or Godzilla." Ash smiles and crosses her arms. "I prefer you and Godzilla just the way you are."

 

Junkrat chuckles. "Is that right? You don't mind crazy ol' Junkrat?"

 

"Not at all." She tucks her hair behind her ear and looks back at the screen watching the credits. "I wouldn't change you for the world." She said softly.

 

Junkrat pauses, staring at her intently.

 

She turns back to him slowly, the two of them blushing when their eyes meet. "How could I hate you...? You've been nothing but nice to me... and this? Today?" She smiles feeling the same weightlessness she had felt before, but stronger when looking into those amber eyes of his. No one had ever done something like this for her before and she felt so grateful to have a friend like him, flaws and all. "This is literally... the sweetest most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me."

 

Junkrat's heart beats in his ears. Out of all the times, he has been threatened, shot at, and nearly blown apart. He has never been as afraid as he is right now. His tongue felt like was dryer than the sands back home and his stomach was doing terrible flighty flips. "I-I'm sure this ain't the _sweetest_..." He managed to mutter.

 

He gasps quietly to himself as leans against his chest and wraps her warm flesh arm around his waist, squeezing him gently. He felt like his heart could beat right out of his chest... or he was gonna yak.

 

"Yes, it is."

 

He hears her little voice against his chest and what he thought was a small sniffle. When she sniffled again, unsure of what to do he lightly rubs her arm. "Hey..." He says softly. "N-no cryin', ya hear? I didn't mean to make you sad... I was trying to do the opposite I swear it."

 

She leans back sniffling once more and he reaches toward her face, hesitating for a moment, but wipes a stray hair and tear from her cheek. "No tears, love." His hand freezes and holds his breath when she takes hold of his hand, gently holding it against her face.

 

She smiles. His hand was warm and had the slight scent of motor oil and tea flavoring. How can the strangest combinations of smells be so... fantastic? The coarseness of the oil... the sweetness of the tea... she wanted to take in this smell and warmth of his hand forever. "I'm not crying because I'm sad..." She sniffles. "I'm crying because I'm happy."

 

"That's a strange reason to cry..." Junkrat chuckles sheepishly.

 

"I know... I'm a crier. I cry about everything." She says slowly releasing his hand and resting hers on her thigh. Blinking a few times she looks up at him with a look of surprise. He hadn't moved his hand away. Had he not noticed? She found herself staring into those fiery yellow eyes and they stared right back. She watched as his eyes dart to her lips then scans her face again. Her stomach tightened and the weightlessness feeling came back in full swing. She knew this feeling too well...

 

He sat frozen in fear. Mercs, bots, wild animals... none of them scared him as much as this woman and soft satin lips. The world he came from, there weren't moments like this. No first dates, no first kisses... he had kissed before, but only during a root... those were messy, rough, and downright animalistic. That isn't the way he wanted to kiss her, he wanted the romantic kind... the ones you see in movies and the way she was looking back at him... maybe she wanted to kiss him too.

 

The two of them were inching closer to one another, slowly. Junkrat's hand moves slowly to the back of her head, pulling her in ever so slightly. She raises her hand to his wrist, gripping it gently but firmly enough so he couldn't move it away.Gently tilting their heads to the side, nearly close enough to feel the other's breath on their lips.

 

 _"Home stretch..."_ Junkrat through. _"No backin' out now..."_

 

"Hey, Junk-man! You seen Ash?!" Lucio's voice rang through the stairwell from above.

 

Junkrat and Ash both jolt, causing them to slam foreheads with a loud thud. The two yelp and wince in pain. Ash lays back on the couch slowly holding her forehead as Lucio stares, wide eyed at the pair.

 

"Uh...t-there you are." Lucio chuckles sheepishly.

 

Junkrat whips around, glaring at him as if he had the intent to kill, still holding his forehead. "What?!"

 

Lucio flinches. "W-Winston's looking for Ash. Her suit's ready and it needs a test run."

 

"Couldn't that have waited for TWO MORE MINUTES!?" Junkrat growls.

 

Lucio frowns knowing what he had just interrupted, looking at Junkrat with pleading, mournful eyes. While Ash was still recovering, he mouths to Junkrat. _"I'm so sorry..."_

 

Junkrat sneers and months back. **_"You will be."_ **

 

Lucio gulps and waits patiently in the stairwell, a far distance away from the now infuriated Junker. Ash sits back up in her seat rubbing her forehead less now and rises to her feet.

 

"How's your head?" Junkrat asks.

 

Ash laughs sheepishly. "I'm alright. I've got a hard head... I'll live."

 

Junkrat giggles. "You sure do! I think I might get a bruise!"

 

Ash gasps playfully and smacks him gently on the shoulder. "I'll be right with ya, gotta help clean up first."

 

"You don't need to help clean, I insist... It was my idea so I'll clean the mess. You run along before Ape-face has a hissy." Junkrat says shooing her hands away from the crumbs and empty glasses.

 

The same _whooshing_ from before was now moving away. "I'll meet you there!" Lucio called down from the top of the stairs, he left as soon as possible in fear Junkrat might catch hold of him.

 

Ash sighs and rubs her forehead again. "Well... I better go then... duty calls."

 

Junkrat nods and places the empty glasses inside one another, still sitting on the couch.

 

Ash starts for the door but pauses. Smiling she walks back over to Junkrat. "Hey..."

 

Just as Junkrat lifts his head to answer, she already has both hands gently caressing his cheeks and planting a small kiss on his forehead where their skulls collided. Junkrat's eyes bulge and freezes solid, dropping the empty cups to the floor.

 

She giggles and brushes his hair back. "Thank you." She says in a silvery tone. "Hope your head feels better." She adds, exiting up the stairs passing Roadhog giving him a polite greeting.

 

Junkrat sat there for a few seconds unmoving, before slumping back into the couch. Roadhog enters looking up from his book for a moment glancing at Junkrat but double takes when he sees him sitting alone with a calm smile on his face. He tilts his head quizzically as he approaches. It's not normal for him to be so calm while awake. He taps him briskly on the shoulder.

 

"Hey..." He rasps.

 

"Hey, Roadie..." Junkrat sighed, still smiling.

 

Roadhog stared down at his employer for a moment, he had just passed Ashlyn. Could this be her doing? "What'cha doin'?"

 

"Nothin'..." Junkrat replies nonchalantly.

 

Roadhog shrugs and turns to leave when his employer calls for his attention.

 

"Oi Roadie... How do you know... if you're in love?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure quite of few of you are going to be frustrated, but patience my pets. Soon, very soon....


	13. "A Long Flight"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash gets her new suit! [Link](https://blizzieneko.tumblr.com/post/166973145079/the-concept-for-ashlyns-battle-suit-for-my-ow)  
> (Sorry for the wait you guys, and sorry for! You all have been so kind in your comments! I love all of you!)  
> (Some bad news though. My workload is rather... large so I'll only be updating once a month. I don't want to rush chapters and these next two coming are going to be really good!)

As Ash passes through the large door to Winston’s lab, she knocks briskly with her prosthetic hand on the steel frame making a loud metallic rapping sound. “Knock, knock! Anybody home?”

“Ah, Ashlyn, come in!” Winston calls out before dropping down from the second floor. Ashlyn jolts back with a sharp gasp as his large form lands with a loud thud just within arm’s reach of her. Winston laughs aloud and gives her a toothy smile. “Sorry for dropping in!”

Ashlyn chuckles sheepishly and gives him a dry smile. “Heheh… Good one…”

“I had no idea you were so easy to scare, Ashlyn!” Winston titters. “I would have tried during Halloween!”

Ash nods. “Oh yeah… I’m very jumpy. Always have been easily startled, especially when I’m in the middle of something.” She turns her gaze to the sound of familiar whirring coming from the stairs. “Isn’t that right, Lucio?” She says as she makes eye contact with the D.J. in question, hiding wearily behind the railing.

Winston’s eyes narrow and looks at the two with a quizzical expression. “Uuhh… Alright then. Anyway… if you’ll just follow me.” Winston walks over to a decently sized work bench with many different tools and devices strung about, but at the far end of the bench was a neatly folded lump of fabric, which Ash could only assume must be her suit. Winston smiles and takes it in his hands passes it to Ashlyn.

Ash takes hold of the shoulders and letting the fabric fall open, she holds it out away from herself to look it over. It was more like a unitard that was a dark grey, almost black with . She runs the fabric through her fingers of her flesh hands feeling the texture. “It’s really light!” She says with a smile. Ashlyn holds it up to herself and it seems to be a lot smaller than her form. “Uh… not to complain, but it looks kinda small.”

Winston chuckles. “It’ll stretch. It’s a form fitting fabric, making it easier to maneuver in. I figured that would be useful in the field after seeing how mobile you are in training.” He turns and motions to door along the far wall. “There’s a restroom there you can use to try it on.” He pulls a small box out from under the bench and hands it to her. “The rest of your uniform and equipment is in here. Fireproof boots, knee pads, one elbow pad, one fireproof glove for your living arm, a holster for your gun, and your goggles! Once you have it all on I can show you how it all works.”

After a few minutes Ashlyn comes out of the restroom in all of her gear. In this get up, she really felt like she was one of them now, a real Overwatch agent. She pulls at the long collar of the suit as she joins Lucio and Winston back in the center of the lab. “I wasn’t sure how far up this goes, Winston, right now it just feels weird.”

“Oh! Ofcourse. You pull it all the way up to the base of your skull.” Winston gives her a hand and pulls the collar up to the right place. “This lighter fabric in the front here can be pulled up over your mouth and nose to prevent you from breathing in any smoke. The fabric filters it out for you! Pretty neat, huh? The whole suit is made from a flame retardant material and it’s really durable. It’s resistant to tearing and most cuts, but unfortunately it’s not bulletproof, so we had a ballistics vest made for you as well.” He grins. “Other than that, does everything fit okay? Anything bothering you or feel uncomfortable?”

Ashlyn shakes her head. “Not at all! I’m surprised how comfortable it is, but I am curious what these orange tube things are for.” She holds out her arm and points to them. “They look really nice with the suit, but what are they?”

“Ah, those tubes hold are a coolant system similar to the tech in Mei’s jacket. We developed that for her so she doesn’t overheat in warmer temperatures. I’m not going to get too technical about it, but it’s a gel that reacts to high heat and will help lower the temperature of your suit, cooling you down as well!”

“Oooh!” She nods. “Very nice.” She pats at the two satchels on her hips. “I found these in the box too and I assumed that they go with the suit…”

Winston nods. “Of Course, you can carry your smoke grenades and molotovs in those. Oh! I almost forgot! Your goggles. Go ahead and pull them down over your eyes and I’ll show you how they work.” Ashlyn does as she told and adjusts the goggles down over her eyes comfortably and waits for further instruction. “Right now, they’ll function very similar to regular sunglasses and everything should look orange, but you should have noticed the switch on the back of the band. When you switch it on you’ll be able to see very faint thermal images through smoke.”

“Very cool.” She giggles and holds out her flesh arm again and blasts a fair amount of flame onto her arm suddenly with a loud ‘fwoosh’ causing Winston and Lucio to jump back.

“Please don’t do that!” Winston gasps.

“Or at least warn somebody before you decide to flame on!” Lucio pants grasping at his chest.

Ashlyn laughs. “Sorry! But It works! I didn’t feel a thing and I’m starting to feel the coolant working!”

Winston sighs and pushes his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. “That’s good news I guess. I’m glad you like it.”

“Everything is just so amazing, Winston, really! You’ve outdone yourself!” She giggles with a wide grin on her face.

Winston blushes and adjusts his glasses. “Why thank you! I’m glad you like them.”

“It looks amazing too!” Lucio grins. “She looks like she belongs in one of those action movies!” He chuckles kicking his legs lightly, still sitting on the bench.

“Winston, you in?” A faint voice calls from outside.

“Come on in, Jack!” Winston calls back.

Soldier 76 walks through the door with a stern look on his face. “We need to talk.”

“Of Course, let’s go to my office. Please excuse me, Ashlyn… Lucio…” He says nodding politely before following Soldier up the flight of stairs to his office.

“Wonder what that’s about…” Lucio muses.

Ashlyn shrugs. “Couldn’t tell ya…”

Lucio sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “Hey… about… earlier.” He clears his throat and frowns. “I’m sorry if I interrupted anything… important..”

Ash blushes and looks away. “Oh, that? Nah! Pssh! No worries!” She laughs sheepishly, idly fiddling with her glove to avoid eye contact.

“That was the moment wasn’t it?” Lucio sighs and slumps down, resting his arms on his knees in defeat. “That was your guys’ moment and I ruined it, didn’t I?”

Ash sighs giving him a reassuring smile. “Noo… It’s okay… there will be other times.” The flushing of her cheeks getting warmer. “I mean… it’s not like he and I can’t just… pick up where we left off later.”

Lucio smiles widely and perks up. “Ah man! I can’t wait to tell Hana!”

“There’s nothing to tell right now…” Ash rolls her eyes. “If anything happens, he or I will be the first to let the two of you know, okay?”

Lucio gives a smile and makes a ‘ok’ with his thumbs and finger. “Gotcha.”

\---

Roadhog stands stunned for a moment staring down at his young friend. “Love?”

Junkrat nods.

“Why are you askin’ me…?”

“Cause you read them books all the time… I figure if anyone would know it’s you. That and I don’t want’ta ask anybody else…” He grumbles. “Froglegs would have a good laugh at the first mention of it, fucking cunt...”

Roadhog sighs, closing his novel he places it into his back pocket before moving around the couch to take a seat next to Junkrat. He crosses his hands over his belly and lets out another slightly annoyed sigh.

“This should be interesting.” He mutters under his breath. “Alright…You tell me what you think love is…”

Junkrat’s brows furrow and he stares blankly into the wall. “Uuuuuh… I dunno. I guess it’s… like… wanting to root a sheila, but… it’s not the only reason ya like’er…?”

Roadhog nods. “And… what other reasons do you think you would like her than to just have a root…?”

Junkrat grins. “Ah, mate.” He sighs sinking into the couch. “She’s like… fun! You know? She thinks me pegleg’s ‘cool’... and I’ve never… ever met a sheila that liked bombs as much as me…” He rests his head back and looks up at the ceiling. “And she does things ta me mate… Like… not like just… gettin’ a stiff cause plenty of sheilas have given me a stiff… but man can she give me the biggest and hardest...”

Hog groans loudly to drown out any more mention of his member.

“Sorry, mate.” Junkrat chuckles and tilts his head and pats his chest. “But… she makes me chest feel all funny… like… when I see her eyes light up after seeing somethin’ blow… her smile… her laugh…” He sighs. “Even her sayin’ my name makes me feel all flip-floppy in the chest... and just sometimes she makes me feel I’m gonna yak too…” He turns to Roadhog with a quizzical expression. “I ain’t never had a sheila make me feel like I’m gonna yak… and it be a good feeling… do you know what I mean?”

Hog nods.

“I ain’t never had that before…” Junkrat says calmly. “I mean… I’ve heard the fucks on tv and movies say things close to that in those mushy scenes… but… I didn’t ever think it was a real way that you can feel… it’s all got me fuckin’ confused.” He groans. “I mean! Why am I so fuckin’ terrified of’er but I wanna be around’er all the time!?”

Roadhog listens quietly and nods.

“What does it fuckin’ mean, Hog?” Junkrat whines in a pleading tone.

“Love.” He says gruffly and pulls himself from his seat. He adjusts his pants and retrieves his novel opeing it to where he had left off.

Junkrat sits in a stunned silence. “You… really think that’s it, Hog?”

Roadhog only nods and takes his leave with his nose in his book.

Junkrat scurries up behind him in a panic. “Wait!! How the fuck do I even tell her!? Roadie!!!” He slams into the larger junkers back as he stops abruptly, groaning through his mask in an irritated tone.

“Just tell her. Don’t think about it. Just say it.” Hog grumbles.

“But, what if she don’t feel the same. W-what if she just fuckin’ laughs at me!”

Roadhog turns and looks down at him. “She won’t.”

Junkrat’s brows furrow for a moment as he sits silently for a moment to ponder.. “If Roadie don’t think she’ll laugh… maybe I got a chance!” A huge smile spreads across his face and he puffs out his chest confidently. “A’right then! I’ll do it! I’ll walk right up to’er and tell’er! I’ll-!” Junkrat freezes just as Athena’s voice plays over the loudspeaker.

“Will the following agents please gather their gear and proceed to the docking bay: Oxton, Ziegler, Zhou, Fawkes, Rutledge, and Elliot.”

Junkrat groans loudly and wipes his flesh hand down the his face. “Are you fucking kidding me!? Right now!? Just when I got the courage ta-”

Roadhog places a hand firmly on his shoulder grabbing Junkrat’s attention. “Isn’t Elliot her last name?”

Junkrat leans onto his good leg and rubs his chin. “I think it is now that ya mention it… why?”

“They’re callin’ her too.”

Junkrat’s eyes widen. “For a mission? Already!?” Junkrat runs his hand through his hair and starts to pace. “What if she ain’t ready for all that, Hog!? What if she gets hurt! Or Worse!? What if-!!”

Roadhog presses his large palm into Junkrat’s face to silence him and to stop his pacing, nearly lifting him off the ground in the process. “Shut it.”

Junkrat swats away his giant hand away from his face and scowls. “Hey! This ain’t funny!!”

“We’re goin’ too, remember? We’ll keep her safe.”

Junkrat chuckles and slaps his flesh hand into his forehead. “Rooooiiight! Good thinkin’, Roadie!” He puffs out his chest and marches to the stairwell with Roadhog in tow. “With us there, ain’t no baddies gonna lay a finger on’er!” 

Roadhog nods and gives a him a low grunt in agreement.

\---

Ash’s brows knit as she hears her name play through the overhead speakers. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” Morrison and Winston start down the stairs and Morrison is staring her down with a more serious look on his face as usual. “Winston and I both agree that you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?” She asks nervously.

“Your first mission.” He says firmly, now at the base of the steps he heads towards the exit. “I’ll be in the hangar prepping for take off. Go get your weapon and meet me in five.”

Short and to the point as always. 76 always has a way of saying so little but making you feel so uneasy. Ash turns to Lucio with a weary look on her face, and he was giving her a similar look. Lucio hops down off of his perch and walks over to her, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“You’ll be fine! I was nervous my first mission too, and you’ll have Junkrat and Roadhog with you. I doubt they’ll let anything bad happen to you. So you shouldn’t have much to worry about at all! I’m sure you’ll do great!” He says in his normal chipper tone with his charming smile on his face. He could make a bull on steroids calm.

Winston approaches them and rests a gentle hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. “Lucio’s right. Jack wouldn’t let you go if he didn’t think you were absolutely ready… so don’t worry. If Jack has faith in your abilities, so will the rest of the team.”

Ashlyn lets out shaky sigh. “If you say so.” It was good to hear, but she still is unsure of Morrison’s decision. If Winston and Lucio thinks she can do it and if Morrison is letting her go. She must be ready, right? She rubs her arm nervously as Lucio and Winston follow after Morrison. She gathered her gear, putting them into the pouches Winston had made for her, checking and double checking that all the straps on her vest were clasped correctly. She slams both hands on the desk in front of her and lets out a long breathy sigh. Her nerves were getting the best of her now and she hadn’t even left Winston’s lab? What is she going to be like on the ship? She’ll puke for sure.What if she forgets something? What if she gets hurt? What if she lets someone else get hurt? She rests her head into her shaky hands. What if someone gets killed… and it’s her fault? What if she got killed? She could feel her chest tightening and finding it harder to breath as her thoughts were burying her alive.

Jamie. Jamie is going to be there too… 

That’s right… Junkrat and Roadhog were coming along too. If anyone could make her feel safe it would be those too. She had become so close to both of them, she trusted them with her own life. Especially Jamie, he was rash and didn’t always think things through, but if it came to her safety he would never let anything happen to her. The thought of fighting at his side unravels the tightness in her chest. With the two of them watching her back, and she watching theirs, nothing could stop them. Come Hell or high water, they would hook, blast, and roast all who opposed them.

\---

A quick stop at the armory and she jogs up beside Morrison, who was overlooking a list of supplies on a tablet. Mei and Tracer were loading in several small crates of supplies. Mei, in full gear, was handing off one crate at a time to Tracer as she darts back and forth to the shuttle. Roadhog and Jamie were loading their own gear. Roadhog heaving a large wooden crate with ease as Jamie strains to hold up his end, whining and wheezing all the while as they move the crate together into the cargo hold. “Hurry up, Pigface! I’m dying back here!” Jamie whimpers.

“Took you long enough…” Morrison mumbles, not taking his eyes from his tablet.

Ash winces. “S-sorry, sir. Won’t happen again.”

“Good.” He says firmly pointing over to the smaller crates already in the ship. “Mei and Tracer already took the liberty of moving your extra gear into the ship. Everyone will be finishing up soon so go ahead and get on board.”

Ash nods and starts up the rap and around the corner when she slams straight into a boney torso and two hands grabbing her by her waist steadying her as she starts to fall backward.. “Sorry! ‘Scuse me! Didn’t see ya there!” She stammers. Brushing her hair back out of her face she looks up to see Jamie staring down at her.

As their eyes meet he gives her a nervous smirk and lets go of her waist tucks them behind him, taking a step back. “Heh, no worries.” Jamie chuckles, his cheeks flushing. “I-I wasn’t payin’ attention eitha’. You know me! Head in’tha clouds… thinkin’ of blowin’ somethin’ up and what not. Just ask Roadie! He’ll tell ya I neva pay attention- am I rambling? Cause if I am I can- I’mma shut up now.”

Ash giggles. “Maybe a little. It’s okay though. I’d rather bump into you anyway.” Blushing as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

“O’course! Better than runnin’ inta Roadie! He’d knock you flat on your ass, am I right?” He breaks out into a fit of nervous laughter, his eyes darting around the room. “Get it… cause he’s huge…ahem...rambling again…”

“That’s not really what I meant…” She chuckles wringing her hands, her cheeks getting noticeably redder.

Jamie’s head tilts slightly before it really sinks in. His jaw drops a little his eyes widen. “O-oh! U-u-uuuh…” He coughs, now three shades brighter. “W-well then..uh…” Swallowing hard, he back on his heel and rubs the back of his head. “A-about.. Earlier-”

“Alright, people, time to head out! Everyone on the ship!” Morrison calls out in the loudest voice he could muster.

Junkrat groans and drops his arms to his side in defeat. “What is it with these people?”

As Junkrat turns to take his seat, Ash reaches out grabbing his arm gently. He freezes for a moment before looking down at her in surprise. 

“We’ll have more time to talk about it when we get back…” Ash says with a sweet smile on her face. “Hopefully without any interruptions,” she chuckles and releases his arm.

He feels his chest cease as he swallows audibly. “S-sure.” He manages to mutter before she slips by him to join the others in their seats.

Ana was the last to board. Ashlyn didn’t remember her name being called over the speakers, but she did recall Tracer telling her what a great pilot she was. Sure enough Ana heads straight for the cockpit, placing a headset on and turning on the engine. Morrison joins her in the co-pilot and after a few moments his voice comes over the intercom. 

“Once we’re in the air, I’ll be briefing you on where we’re headed. Sit tight and buckle up for take off.”

Tracer, Mei and Angela were already strapped in and chattering to one another on one side of the ship. Roadhog hulking form unable to fit into one of the premade seats, he straps himself into a seat specially made for him by Torbjorn. Junkrat slumps down into his own seat between Ash and Hog, pulling down the harness over his chest just as the engines roar to life and the ship slowly makes its ascent.

\---

The engines die down to a gentle hum as they reach enough altitude. Morrison takes off his headset and steps down the cockpit stairs, giving everyone the go-ahead to get up from their own seats.

“If everyone could join me over here…” Morrison stops in front a table with a large holo display of globe. Tapping a few keys, the globe shrinks into the table’s surface and a large map of Mexico expands in it’s place just as everyone gathers around it. “Alright. We’ve got news that Talon has completely overrun the town of Dorado.” The map zooms in on section showing a satellite view of the town. “

Their local police have managed to evacuate all of their citizens without incident, but there are dozens of Talon ground troops all over that area now.” Morrison sighs and with a few taps of the keys A pyramid shaped building expands in top right of the map. “Now for the bad news, we have a hostage situation inside the Lumerico building.” Mei lets out a small gasp as everyone glances at one another.

“What’s worse, Doomfist has broken out of prison and we believe he might in on this.” Jack rests his weight on his palms against the table. 

All color drains from Tracer’s face. “D-Doomfist?” Angela rests a hand on her shoulder as Tracer’s breathing starts becoming more erratic. “No! That can’t be! Winston put him in there for good!!” She shouts, wincing away from Angela’s attempts to calm her.

“Doomfist? Who’s he?” Junkrat asks to Roadhog, but only gets a shrug in reply.

“Nothing but a no good bully.” Mei says firmly crossing her arms the best she can in her puffy jacket.

“Well, that’s not saying much, comin’ from you.” Junkrat scoffs, earning a sharp glare from the little scientist.

Ashlyn looks over at Lena, who was still in a slight state of panic. She had heard about him on the news a few years back, but never the full story. At that time she was still working on finding the murderer to her family friend to be worried about things happening in other countries. 

“We’re not entirely sure what it is that they want yet, but It can’t be good. The Lumerico company is known for their nuclear power that provides electricity to most of Mexico, but that kind of technology can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Kidnapping the scientists may be their way of trying to get the info or tech they want, and it’s our job to save them and Lumerico’s secrets.”

“So, what’s the plan? Actually, better question, when do we get to the part where we blow shit up?!” Junkrat titters while rubbing his hands together maniacally.

Mei huffs and rolls her eyes, Morrison giving him a similar reaction. “Actually, Fawkes, the less property we ‘blow up’ the better, we’re there to keep Talon from wrecking the place. If you must blow something up, let it be the Talon’s goons if you please,” he says with a firm low tone, only to get a disappointed whimper from Junkrat in return. Ashlyn stifles a giggle watching his arms drop to his sides like sad noodles. He looked like a scolded child, which she found rather adorable.

“So, if we can get back to business…” Morrison grumbles as the map zooms in more, showing a perfect bird’s eye view the town square with dozens of red markers dotted around in groups. “Ground troops are guarding the only way to the Lumerico building. Fawkes, Rutledge, Elliot; your job is to clear a path. Tracer, Mercy, and I have to get into that building. Once we’re in, Mei, Fawkes, Rutledge, and Elliot will all guard the gate here in the town square.” He points at a large cement wall adjacent the fountain in the center of the square. “There will be reinforcements for sure, so it will be your jobs to keep them off our tails until we have the hostages.”

Reaching into his pocket, Jack pulls out a handful of tiny plastic earbuds. He passes them out to the others one by one, but as pauses to show Ash what it is he’s giving her. “Ash, this is your com. Put this in your ear, and you’ll be able to hear any of us in a 10-mile radius. Luckily we’re not going to be that far apart. If for any reason you’re separated or get into trouble, press the button on the side and speak. All of us can hear you and vice versa.” Ash nods placing it into her ear as he walks back to the holoprojector.

“One more thing…” A few taps of the keys and four photos pop up simultaneously. One man with no hair, a woman with a side cut, a strange woman with blue skin, and a horrifying mask she’ll could never forget. “These four,” Morrison points to the hologram. “If you see any of these four do not- I repeat, do not engage. Not for any circumstances. They are dangerous, and if you see them, call for backup immediately.” He pauses and looks her dead in the eye. A mixture of the most serious and worried she had ever seen him. “Do you understand me? Do not engage…”

Ash nodded firmly. “Yes, sir. I promise.”

Morrison gives her a little reassuring smirk before turning to face the others. “Ana will be flying cloaked nearby if needed. In case of an emergency, call Ana, she’ll try to come pick you up but only if it’s a real emergency.” Passing everyone by on his way back to the cockpit he glances down at his watch. “For now, we have a long flight ahead of us. Eleven hours to be exact. So check your gear and then double check your gear. Get some rest if you need it and if you’re hungry, there’s some MRE’s in the back. I’ll be up here if you need me.”

Ash watches as he joins Ana at the wheel and the others moving around the cabin. She sighs heavily and wrings her hands staring at the map and the photos of the Talon operatives. The photo of Reaper stared right back at her. Memories from the night of her rescue flashback into her mind. The barrel of his shotgun pointing at her face, the smell of blood and gunpowder. What if she had to face him again? She shudders at the thought. She jolts as she feels a hand rest on her shoulder.

“Oi, you alright there, Firebug?” Junkrat pulls on her shoulder gently to face him, but she continues to wring her hands and chewing on the inside of her lip. “Nervous, eh?”

Ashlyn scoffs. “Me? Nervous? Pssh!” She tries to smile but fails miserably. Jamie gives her a look of concern so she sighs deeply and bows her head in defeat. “Heh. Nervous? Me? More like terrified. I don’t want to have to see… him... again…” Ash’s voice was soft and shaky, almost a whisper.

With his flesh hand, he lifts her chin up to look at him again. “She’ll be right,” he says with that little smirk she likes so much. “Me and Hoggie ain’t gonna let nothin’ and nobody lay a finga’ on ya.” His grin stretches across his face as the corner of Ash’s mouth curls into a little smile. “So, no worries, eh? You just go out there, and show those cunts what happens when they mess with us.” He says proudly.

The confidence in his voice reassures her a little, but to know that she’ll be there with her two dearest friends washes away her nerves. Smiling she leans into his hand slightly, he had forgotten to move it away again and he had been stroking her cheek lightly without even noticing it. “Thank you, Jamie.” She says softly.

“You’re welcome.”

Her heart nearly skips a beat when he gives her the most handsome smile she had ever seen him make. It was a calm, almost blissful smile. Truly foreign to his demeanor, but it was so fetching on him. What she wouldn’t give to be back at base right now. Just her and Jamie on that couch again…

“Hey, I found a deck of cards! Anyone up for a game of Rummy?” Tracer chirps as she shuffles an old deck of cards, obviously used on many a trip back and forth between missions.

Jamie lets out a long exasperated sigh. “And people say I’m rude…” Dropping his arm to his side he rolls his eyes and hobbles over to the table. “Sure, sure… why not. You playin’, Firebug?”

Ash purses her lips and rubs the length of her arm. “I’ve never played that game before.”

“Never!?” Tracer gasps. “Well, come sit down, love! We’re gonna teach ya! We got a long flight so we’ve got plenty of time. Besides,” She shuffles the cards once more in her hands. “Teachin’ you how to play will help ease my nerves.”

Jamie stands aside and lets Ash scoot into the booth first next to Tracer, before climbing into the seat himself. “It’ll do wonders for mine too.” She watches as Mei takes the seat adjacent to Tracer, watching in amazement as Tracer shuffles the cards with ease.

“Before you do that, can you show me how to do that fancy move with your cards? How do you keep them from shooting out all over?” Mei asks completely in awe as she does it again.

“I don’t mind showin’ ya! It’s easy once you get the hang of it, but uh…” Tracer points at Mei’s hands. “You’re not gonna get very far with those gloves of yours, love.”

“Oh!” Mei giggles. “Of course!”

As the two continue on about the deck, Ash turns to Jamie, who was resting his head in his hand looking out of the small window of the hatch door. He wasn’t smiling anymore. She fidgets with the strap on her glove before nudging him gently. “Hey, I did mean what I said before… we’ll have plenty of time to talk when we get back. Just you and me.”

Jamie gives her a small smile and nudges her back. “A’right.”

“I promise.”

“I believe you.”


End file.
